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'Give the poor free holiday vouchers'

The Local Germany
The Local Germany - [email protected]
'Give the poor free holiday vouchers'
A right for everyone? Photo: DPA

Germany’s main opposition party has called for people on low incomes to be given free holiday vouchers worth €500 a year so they can afford to go away on summer vacations.

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Katja Kipping, leader of left-wing party, Die Linke, said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag that a summer getaway was a basic right for everyone – including those who can’t afford one.

Kipping estimated that one in five Germans can’t afford to go away on their vacations. The 36-year-old said holiday vouchers should be used to address that.

“All people on low incomes – on benefits and housing benefits – should get vouchers which they can redeem for holidays,” she said.

Kipping added the vouchers should be worth around €500 a year and be redeemable in youth hostels, on trains or in travel agents.

She also called for more to be done to help children enjoy a holiday.

“We should give children two weeks free vacation at summer camps or holiday camps,” she said, indirectly referencing the state-organized holidays citizens were sent on in the GDR. 

Kipping added that around two million children in Germany would not be enjoying a summer vacation this year. 

SEE ALSO: What does the Left Party want for Germany?

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