Report: Poverty more common in Germany

BERLIN, May 20 (UPI) -- A government report says 13 percent of German citizens have incomes below the poverty line, while welfare benefits put another 13 percent just above the line.

The report released Monday set the poverty line at 781 euros ($1,212) per month, Der Spiegel reported Tuesday. The authors also said that the gap between rich and poor in Germany is getting wider.

The Christian Democrats, Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party, and the Social Democrats, her left-of-center partner in the governing coalition, reacted differently to the report. The Christian Democrats called for tax cuts to help the middle class, while the Social Democrats called for tax increases on the wealthy and the creation of a minimum wage.

Labor and Social Affairs Minister Olaf Scholz said that single parents and the long-term jobless are at the greatest risk of poverty..

"The divide between poor and rich has gotten wider again," said Scholz in an interview Sunday with Bild am Sonntag. "I find it particularly concerning that the number of those who are employed and still live at the poverty level has risen. That shows that our wages are too low in Germany and we need a minimum wage."