Minister Kocher: – “We have problems, but we cannot complain about anything”

Recession and inflation are concerns. In these times, Minister of Economy and Labor Martin Kocher is a man in demand. He was asked by Rainer Nowak. In a conversation on krone.tv with Monika Köppl-Turyna, director of Eco Austria, and Markus Marterbauer, chief economist at the Chamber of Labor (AK).

“We are lagging behind when it comes to children aged one to three.”
Central point: part-time work for women. A problem, especially because “we have the highest percentage in the OECD,” says Kocher, who sees one of the reasons as the still inadequate childcare. “It is good that the government is investing 4.5 billion euros here, but the expansion must be realized faster. We are lagging behind, especially with children from one to three years old.”

“We need to rethink the tax system”
Nowak wanted to know whether politicians or the ÖVP, with their rather conservative view of society, had blocked this for too long. Köppl-Turyna: “Austria is a conservative country, completely different from Denmark and Sweden, for example, where many more women work full-time.” The director of Eco Austria sees too little demand, but also too little supply. A chicken-and-egg problem.

There is also the problem of tax progression, which offers too few incentives to progress into a full-time job. “You have to rethink the tax system.”

Urban-rural problem
AK economist Markus Marterbauer stated that more and more women want to work full-time. A quarter of part-time employees currently wanted to switch to full-time work. “But there is a big problem between city and countryside. In Vienna, 80 percent of primary school students have afternoon care, in Tyrol only 25 percent.”

The part-time problem also affects men, who work long hours compared to international standards. This also has consequences for family life. Marterbauer: “Research showed that 30 hours a week would be ideal.”

The red-white-red card for people from third countries does not really work well, Minister Kocher admitted. It’s a work in progress, but overall Austria is very attractive. 42,000 people from EU countries come to Austria every year. Köppl-Turyna countered that many better qualified people prefer to go to other countries. “Austria is a country with the highest taxes. People look at where there is more net left over. Other countries are more attractive.”

Minister on the failure of his unemployment reform
There was agreement on the existing domestic potential. According to Marterbauer, about a million people in Austria would be available for better jobs, and many older people would like to work longer. It’s also about quality. “There are far too many bad jobs in this country. 290,000 full-time employees earn less than 1,900 euros per month. This is what politicians appeal to.”

There was also discussion about the “degressive unemployment model” that Kocher would like. 70 percent would have benefited from this – initially more unemployment benefits, then gradually decreasing. The point is to integrate people back into the work process more quickly. Ultimately, as Kocher revealed to Rainer Nowak, it failed because of the additional requirement to lower the additional income limit for the unemployed. The Greens did not agree to this. ‘That was incomprehensible to me.’ Köppl-Turyna provides an argument for Kocher’s model: higher additional income for the unemployed would prolong unemployment. Then there is no incentive.

Marterbauer, on the other hand, warned: the degressive model would mean the expansion of manifest poverty.

The retirement age was also discussed. Far too low, says Köppl-Turyna. In Austria, 18 percent of gross domestic product is spent on pensions, in Denmark only eight. A problem that has existed for decades. Minister Kocher generally tried to emphasize the positive. “Austria is a good location for companies. But the future no longer looks so bright. There are a number of issues that we need to monitor and address. But we can’t complain about anything.”