Germany to raise parental allowance for first time since 2007, cap rises to 1,900 euros
The family ministry has sent a draft bill into government consultation. An earlier plan to cut the benefit period from 14 to 12 months has been dropped.
Archive image · Photo: Leonhard Lenz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Germany's parental allowance is set to rise for the first time since it was introduced in 2007. Under a draft bill from the Family Ministry seen by ZDFheute, the minimum payment will increase from 300 to 330 euros a month and the maximum from 1,800 to 1,900 euros. The draft is in internal government consultation, and no start date has been set.
The 14-month benefit period will remain if each parent takes at least four months; an earlier proposal to cut it by two months to save money has been withdrawn. For the first four months per parent, the benefit will be 80 percent of pre-birth net income, then 50 percent. Both parents will also again be able to draw the benefit at the same time without restriction.
Family Minister Karin Prien of the Christian Democrats told dpa: "We are deliberately sending a signal to young families: we support you." According to a study by the German Economic Institute, the benefit has lost about 38 percent of its purchasing power since 2007 because it was never adjusted for inflation.