SPD thanks society's helpers on Christmas Eve!

On December 24th, several SPD politicians visited facilities that work around the clock on Christmas Eve. The participants included Dr. Joe Weingarten, member of the Bundestag, Michael Simon, member of the state parliament, as well as Marvin Runggas and Dieter Haufe from the SPD city association of Bad Kreuznach. The visits took place, among others, to the police, to hospitals such as Diakonie and Marienwörth, to the bus drivers of the KRN as well as to the Lotte Lemke House of the AWO and to the factory security of Michelin and KHS.

As part of these visits, politicians brought Christmas bags full to the brim to express their thanks. With this campaign they wanted to show appreciation for the systemically important areas that provide essential services all year round. Weingarten and Simon emphasized that it is often forgotten who provides security, medical care and infrastructure. The visit is intended to highlight the recognition of the hard work behind the scenes, such as Antenna KH reported.

Appreciation vs. challenges

The Corona crisis created a complex situation for systemically important professions, which is characterized by a double movement of appreciation and devaluation. These professions, especially in health, care and care work, received short-term appreciation as a result of social necessity, but are contradicted by permanent devaluation due to low wages and difficult working conditions. The research project “Double Fragility: The Care Crisis in the Corona Crisis” examined how parents in systemically relevant professions organized childcare and homeschooling during the pandemic Sociology blog reported.

Essential professions were classified as “essential” during the first wave of the pandemic, which was reflected in applause for healthcare workers and the introduction of a tax-free bonus for carers. Despite this upgrade, however, low wages and high demands in health and care work remained. The average gross hourly wage in these professions was 16.50 euros in 2020, below the national average of 17 euros. This problem became particularly visible due to the high number of women, who make up around 60% of employees in these professions, while the proportion of women in the health sector is 75.6% and in nursing professions 84%.