Parental Allowance
Parental allowance is a substitute benefit that compensates for a lack of income when parents interrupt or limit their employment after the birth of their child. Parental allowance is available in the variants basic parental allowance, parental allowance plus and partnership bonus. Parents who wish to share work and family responsibilities as partners are particularly supported by Parental Allowance Plus and the partnership bonus.
Who receives parental allowance?
You are entitled to parental allowance if you
- is resident or ordinarily resident in Germany and lives in a household with their (adopted) child,
- look after and bring up this child themselves and
- are not or not fully gainfully employed (no more than 30 hours per week for births up to 31/08/21 & no more than 32 hours per week for births from 01/09/21).
Not in full-time employment in this context means that the weekly working hours do not exceed 30 or 32 hours per week on average per month or that employment is for vocational training.
The receipt of parental allowance does not depend on whether and in what form the parent applying for it worked before the birth. Parental allowance can be received by employees, civil servants, the self-employed and also the unemployed or housewives and househusbands.
Note: New regulations for parental allowance from 1 April 2024 & 1 April 2025In order to meet the Federal Minister of Finance's savings targets and prevent a reduction in parental allowance for all parents, the coalition parties have agreed on the following changes to parental allowance: The limit of taxable income (income threshold), above which the entitlement to parental allowance ceases, will be set at 200,000 euros from 1 April 2024 for people with joint parental allowance entitlement. On 1 April 2025, the income threshold for couples will be moderately reduced again to 175,000 euros. Furthermore, the possibility for parents to receive parental allowance in parallel will has been reorganised. Simultaneous receipt is only possible for a maximum of one month up to the child's 12th month of life. There are exceptions to the parallel receipt of Parental Allowance Plus, the partnership bonus and for multiple births and premature babies. More information |
The three variants of parental allowance
Parents are jointly entitled to a total of 14 months of basic parental allowance if both parents are involved in childcare and the parents lose income as a result. They are free to divide the months between them. One parent can claim a minimum of two and a maximum of twelve months for themselves.
Single parents who receive parental allowance to compensate for the loss of earned income can claim the full 14 months of parental allowance. Parents can only receive basic parental allowance within the first 14 months of the child's life. After that, they can only claim Parental Allowance Plus or the partnership bonus.
ElterngeldPlus strengthens the compatibility of work and family and recognises in particular the plans of those who want to return to work part-time while receiving parental allowance. This gives mothers and fathers the opportunity to claim parental allowance for longer than before. Parents can receive Parental Allowance Plus for twice as long as Basic Parental Allowance: one month of Basic Parental Allowance is equivalent to two months of Parental Allowance Plus.
There are two options:
a) For example, anyone who wants to take full parental leave for 24 months and not work can receive Parental Allowance Plus for 24 months. In this case, it is half of the basic parental allowance. This is simply a doubling of the payment period.
b) Anyone wishing to work part-time during parental leave (a maximum of 30 hours is permitted) receives 65% of the lost income as Parental Allowance Plus, but only a maximum of 50% of the basic parental allowance. In this case, Parental Allowance Plus replaces the income lost due to part-time work.
Basic Parental Allowance and Parental Allowance Plus can be combined quite variably.
With the partnership bonus, there are additional Parental Allowance Plus months if both parents work part-time at the same time.
Please note that there are new regulations for births from 1 September 2021.
Regulations for births up to and including 31 August 2021:
Parents who opt for a partnership-based time arrangement receive a partnership bonus: they receive four additional months of Parental Allowance Plus if they work between 25 and 30 hours per week at the same time during this period.
The requirements for the partnership bonus are
- You apply for the partnership bonus in 4 consecutive months of life.
- You both work part-time during this period, for a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 30 hours per week
It is not necessary for you to work exactly 25 to 30 hours per week. The decisive factor is how many hours per week you work on average per month.
This also applies to separated parents who work part-time together. Single parents are entitled to the full partnership bonus.
New regulation for births from 01 September 2021:
The partnership bonus will be more flexible for births from 1 September 2021. It can then be drawn with 24 to 32 hours per week (instead of the previous 25 to 30 hours per week). And it can be taken between 2 and 4 months, with a flexible exit and short-term extension. More information on the changes from 1 September 2021 can be found here.
Further information can be found on the Family Portal pages. The Family Service Office will also be happy to advise you.
Amount of parental allowance
Employed parents who interrupt their working life or reduce their employment to a maximum of 30 hours receive a parental allowance of 65% to 67% of their lost net income, up to a maximum of �1,800 (the so-called cap). The parental allowance is at least �300. The basis for the calculation is the average net income from the last twelve months before the birth. If maternity benefit was received during this period (the rule for employees), "replacement months" from further back are used for the calculation, which also applies in the event of pregnancy-related illness or if parental allowance was paid during the calculation period.
Low-earning parents (average net income of less than �1000 per month) receive an increased parental allowance. For every �2 that the net income was less than �1000, the parental allowance increases by 0.1 percentage points.
Example: If the net income was �800, the parental allowance increases by 10%. It then amounts to 77% of � 800 = � 616.
In the case of part-time employment while receiving parental allowance, the carer receives 65% to 67% of the difference between the average income before the birth and the expected average income after the birth.
In the case of multiple births, the basic parental allowance increases by �300 for the second and each additional child. If you receive Parental Allowance Plus, the amount increases by �150 for each child.
Further information on parental allowance
The parental allowance offices are responsible for processing parental allowance applications. The parental allowance office responsible for the district of Paderborn is located in the district administration offices at Aldegreverstra?e 10.
The application does not have to be made immediately after the birth. However, retroactive payments are only made for the last three months before the beginning of the month in which the application for parental allowance was received by the parental allowance office. The application must state for how many of the first 14 months of the child's life you are applying for parental allowance. In addition to the child's birth certificate and proof of earnings (for the last 12 months before the start of maternity leave), certificates from the health insurance fund and the employer regarding maternity pay and from the employer regarding part-time work after the birth may also need to be submitted.
Each parent can apply for parental allowance once. The application must state the months for which parental allowance is being applied for. The decision on the number and location of the selected months can be changed up to the end of the parental allowance period - retroactively, however, only for up to three months and for parental allowance contributions that have not yet been paid. A special feature of Parental Allowance Plus is that in many cases it is possible to retroactively apply for Basic Parental Allowance for a month in which Parental Allowance Plus has already been received, even if Parental Allowance Plus has already been paid out.
Maternity pay during the eight-week maternity protection period after the birth, including the employer's allowance, is fully offset against the parental allowance. These regulations also apply to remuneration received by female civil servants during the maternity protection period.
As mothers who receive maternity benefit as a wage replacement benefit almost always receive the full amount of their previous net salary in the first eight weeks after the birth, there is no parental allowance that could be paid out during the crediting period. However, as the offset takes place on the exact day and maternity benefit is calculated in weeks, unlike parental allowance, there is regularly already a supplementary entitlement to parental allowance in the last month of the child's life in which maternity benefit is received. It is therefore advisable to apply for parental allowance from the 1st to the 12th month of life or up to the 14th including the two partner months.
All further information on maternity leave can also be found on the pages of the family-friendly university.
Families with more than one child receive the sibling bonus. When calculating income before the birth of the second or a further child, the previous periods with parental allowance and maternity allowance are excluded. The parental allowance due thereafter is increased by 10%, but at least by �75 per month for basic parental allowance and by �37.50 for parental allowance plus. The minimum amount will also increase from �300 to �375.
The sibling bonus can be claimed if the household has
- there is at least one other child living in the household who is under 3 years old.
- there are at least two other children living in the household who are both under the age of 6, or
- there is at least one other child with a disability who is under the age of 14.
You can find all further information on the subject of parental allowance and siblings on the Family Portal website.
Parental allowance is fully taken into account as income for these social benefits:
- Unemployment benefit II
- social welfare
- Child supplement
Anyone who was gainfully employed before the birth of the child receives a parental allowance allowance. The amount of this allowance depends on how much income was earned before the birth of the child. However, it amounts to a maximum of 300 euros in the months in which basic parental allowance is received and a maximum of 150 euros in the months in which Parental Allowance Plus is received.
Parental allowance is not taken into account in the amount of this allowance.
There are various benefits for which the level of income plays a role. These include, for example, housing benefit and BAf?G. When the amount of such a benefit is determined, the parental allowance is treated as income and offset against the benefit.
Only the amount of parental allowance that is higher than the minimum parental allowance amount is offset against these benefits. The minimum amount is 300 euros in the months in which Basic Parental Allowance is received and 150 euros in the months in which Parental Allowance Plus is received. For twins, the minimum amount is twice as high, for triplets it is three times as high and so on.
Single parents receive up to 14 months of basic parental allowance or up to 28 months of Parental Allowance Plus. However, the two "partner months" are only granted under the following conditions:
- one person has sole custody or right of residence (not the rule).
- less income is received after the birth than before (so there must have been income before the birth).
- the other (biological) parent does not live in the same home (if a new partner lives there, 14 months are recognised).
If you are a single parent, you can also use the partnership bonus for yourself alone. You will also receive Parental Allowance Plus for 4 consecutive months if you work between 25 and 30 hours per week during these months.
The parental allowance calculator helps you to calculate the specific amount of parental allowance or parental allowance plus and also offers you the opportunity to plan the division of the parental allowance months.
Detailed information and numerous examples on the allocation of parental allowance can be found in the brochure"Elterngeld, ElterngeldPlus und Elternzeit - Das Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz" from the BMFSFJ, which can be ordered free of charge or downloaded as a PDF file.
The brochure "ElterngeldPlus mit Partnerschaftsbonus" provides a quick overview of the parental allowance options. Information brochures are also available for collection from the Family Service Office at Paderborn University.
