(US) American here. Out of curiosity, do unemployment benefits there allow you to cover your basic living expenses? I ask mostly because the one time I claimed unemployment in the state of Florida several years ago, the amount I received would only cover my rent and maybe my electric bill if I didn’t use my air conditioner but there wasn’t enough left over to buy food.
ALG1 is based on your income over the past 12 months. It’s 60% of the monthly average.
ALG2 is based on your living expenses. It covers your rent plus 450-500€ depending on the number of dependants.
There are also some other benefits that one can apply for regardless of employment status, e.g. Household benefits (Wohngeld), which aims to help with covering rent with ~200€. Being eligible for these obv. requires being below a certain income threshold.
My expenses (rent, utilities and food) were pretty much covered. Obviously it wouldn’t cover a certain lifestyle, but I’m generally frugal, so I didn’t notice a difference.
It’s just that things like the Zuflussprinzip don’t seem to work as they are intended to and because you are dealing with a bureaucratic institution. It feels that these rule-made principles are prone to misuse or abuse.