"Hartz IV" in Common Language
Although the official term for long-term unemployment benefits is still Arbeitslosengeld II, most Germans, even news programmes and politicians in parliament, refer to it as Hartz IV. Hartz IV was voted Word of the Year 2004 by the Society for the German Language. Meanwhile it has become a synonym for the class of non-working poor and is used as a prefix in multiple contexts (i.e. low-brow daytime television programmes are called "Hartz-IV-TV" by critics).
Read more about this topic: Hartz Concept
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