Editing Willy Brandt (section)

==== Social assistance ====
The Third Modification Law (1974) extended individual entitlements to [[social assistance]] by means of higher-income limits compatible with the receipt of benefits and lowered age limits for certain special benefits. Rehabilitation measures were also extended, child supplements were expressed as percentages of standard amounts and were thus indexed to their changes, and grandparents of recipients were exempted from potential liability to reimburse expenditure of social assistance carrier.<ref name="Flora"/> The Third Social Welfare Amendment Act (1974) brought considerable improvements for the disabled, those in need of care, and older persons,<ref name="autogenerated7"/> and a new fund of 100 million marks for disabled children was established.<ref name="Prittie"/>

Allowances for retraining and advanced training and for refugees from East Germany were also increased,<ref name="Prittie"/> together with federal grants for sport.<ref name="Prittie"/> In addition, increases were made in the pensions of 2.5 million war victims.<ref name="Dönhoff"/> Following a sudden increase in the price of oil, a law was passed in December 1973 granting recipients of social assistance and housing allowances a single heating-oil allowance (a procedure repeated in the winter of 1979 during the Schmidt Administration).<ref name="TheEvolution">{{harvp|Kohler|Zacher|Partington|1982}}</ref> Improvements and automatic adjustments of maintenance allowances for participants in vocational training measures were also carried out,<ref name="archive.org"/> and increased allowances were provided for training and retraining, together with special allowances for refugees from East Germany.<ref name="ReferenceA">The Velvet Chancellors: A History of Post-war Germany by Terence Prittie</ref>

There was determined, by statutory regulation issued in February 1970, the category of persons most seriously disabled "to whom, with regard to maintenance aid, an increased demand (50% of the appropriate rate) is being conceded, and, within the scope of relief in special living conditions: a higher rate of nursing aid".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWcWAAAAYAAJ&q=There%20has,%20by%20statutory%20regulation%20issued%20on%2024%20February%201970,%20furthermore%20been%20determined%20the%20category%20of%20persons%20most%20seriously%20disabled%20(e.g.%20people%20suffering%20from%20paiaplegia),%20to%20whom|title=Information Bulletin on Social Policy|date=1 January 1972|publisher=Council of Europe, Documentation Section and Library|via=Google Books}}</ref> In 1971, the retirement age for miners was lowered to 50.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aei.pitt.edu/41190/ |title=Study of the European Communities re-adaptation aids in the coal and steel industries – Archive of European Integration |website=Aei.pitt.edu |date=26 March 2013 |access-date=17 April 2017}}</ref> An April 1972 law providing for "promotion of social aid services" aimed to remedy, through various beneficial measures (particularly in the field of national insurance and working conditions), the staff-shortage suffered by social establishments in their medico-social, educational and other work. A bill to harmonize re-education benefits and another bill relating to severely disabled persons became law in May and September 1972 respectively.<ref name="aei.pitt" /> In 1972, winter payments for construction workers were introduced.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEv7CwAAQBAJ&q=germany%20bad%20weather%20payments%201972&pg=PA360|title=The Politics of West German Trade Unions: Strategies of Class and Interest Representation in Growth and Crisis|first=Andrei|last=Markovits|date=14 April 2016|publisher=Routledge|via=Google Books|isbn=9781317230762}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ValbA8Kp3loC&q=germany%20bad%20weather%20payments%201972&pg=PA102|title=Federalism and Labour Market Policy: Comparing Different Governance and Employment Strategies|first1=Alain|last1=No[Ux00eb]l|first2=Queen's University (Kingston, Ont ) Institute of Intergovernmental|last2=Relations|date=1 January 2004|publisher=IIGR, Queen's University|via=Google Books|isbn=9781553390060}}</ref><ref>[http://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Downloads/Publications/Monthly_Report/1979/1979_04_monthly_report.pdf?__blob=publicationFile] {{dead link|date=April 2017}}</ref>

To assist family planning and marriage and family guidance, the government allocated DM 2,232,000 in 1973 for the payment and for the basic and further training of staff. A special effort was also made in 1973 to organize the recreation of [[disability|disabled persons]], with a holiday guide for the disabled issued with the aid of the Federal Ministry of Family and Youth Affairs and Health in order to help them find suitable holiday accommodation for themselves and their families. From 1972 to 1973, the total amount of individual aids granted by Guarantee Fund for the integration of young immigrants increased from 17 million DM to 26 million DM.<ref name="aei.pitt_b">{{cite web |url=http://aei.pitt.edu/9801/1/9801.pdf |title=Report on the Development of the Social Situation in the Community in 1973 |website=Aei.pitt.edu |access-date=17 April 2017 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191957/http://aei.pitt.edu/9801/1/9801.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Under a law passed in April 1974, the protection hitherto granted to the victims of war or industrial accidents for the purpose of their occupational and social reintegration was extended to all disabled persons, whatever the cause of their disability, provided that their capacity to work had been reduced by at least 50%.<ref name="aei.pitt_c">{{cite web|url=http://aei.pitt.edu/9842/1/9842.pdf |title=Report on the Development of the Social Situation in the Community in 1974 |website=Aei.pitt.edu |access-date=17 April 2017}}</ref>