Justin from Leipzig received a payment request from the office on his 18th birthday. Without knowing it, he had already accumulated debts with the job center as a minor. The reason: his mother received Hartz IV and was "overpaid" by the office - she had received too much money and was supposed to transfer it back. Because she couldn't do that, Justin had to step in and pay off part of the debt to the office. He didn't have much money in his account. The young man is now 23, an adult, and still angry: "You feel like some kind of criminal - what did I do wrong?" He had done nothing wrong. But the minor's liability still applied. That's the name of the regulation that gives almost 600,000 young people in Germany a really bad start into adult life. Franziska also still owes the office around 2,000 euros. The 29-year-old is doing an apprenticeship, wants to work in care later, and has a child. In her case, it was her stepfather who was overpaid by the job center. Was it his fault? Or the office's? It doesn't matter - the young woman has to take responsibility for it. Franziska is overwhelmed with the mail from the authorities and bureaucracy and simply doesn't open the letters anymore. A typical method of displacement, but one that only increases the debt. Overpayments and thus later demands for repayment can also occur with other payments: if too much child benefit, student loans, heating cost subsidies or housing benefit have reached the families. With the Citizens' Allowance Act, the traffic light coalition tried to defuse the law on liability for minors at the beginning of 2023. It set a protected asset of 15,000 euros. Only those who have that much have to pay. Everyone else is exempt. That sounds good at first. But the relief does not apply to the almost 600,000 old cases, like Justin and Franziska. They have to keep paying. They have just come of age and are already in debt - through no fault of their own. Young adults who spent their youth in modest circumstances because their parents were dependent on Hartz IV but made mistakes and received too much money from the authorities have to pay. How can that be and will anything change? A film by Thomas Kasper. 00:00 Intro 01:06 Justin has debts with the job center - how is he supposed to pay them? 02:34 How many people are affected by the liability of minors? 02:23 How do debts arise? Eva Moritz from Jugendhaus Leipzig eV, youth advice center jUkON in Leipzig explains 04:29 Overpayments can also come from child benefit, BAföG, heating costs or housing benefit subsidies 04:54 A box full of official mail - Franzi suppresses the burden of debt 07:46 Is the liability of minors for social benefits pointless? An assessment by Ines Moers, Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Schuldnerberatung eV, Hamburg 09:42 Who understands official mail? An attempt in Berlin 11:26 Annika Klose, SPD MP, defends the exclusion of old cases 12:49 Justin is doing his second apprenticeship and has an eye on his finances 14:42 Franzi has little money and is afraid for her future 19:04 Justin has paid off all his debts 20:10 Conclusion Note from the editors: This video is a reupload. Unfortunately, we made a technical error in the first version of the film. We apologize for this. There was also an error in the image that we would like to point out. During Eva Moritz's speech from 02:23, the institution shown is "Schuldnerberatung Jukon eV". This is an error. The correct name is: Jugendhaus Leipzig eV, Jugendberatungsstelle jUkON. https://www.mdr.de/investigativ/index... Did you like this video? Then please subscribe to our channel!