apply for parental allowance
Parental allowance is a benefit for parents of infants and young children. It replaces part of the lost income if you want to be there for your child after the birth and interrupt or limit your professional work. Parental allowance is also available for...
Parental allowance is a benefit for parents of infants and young children. It replaces part of the lost income if you want to be there for your child after the birth and interrupt or limit your professional work. Parental allowance is also available for parents who had no income before the birth.
There are three types of parental allowance:
- Basic parental allowance (BEG)
- Parental Allowance Plus (EGP)
- Partnership Bonus Months (PBM)
Even if you are a single parent, you can apply for the different variants. Parental allowance is also possible for adopted children and children in foster care.
As parents, you can decide for yourself who claims the parental allowance and for what period of time. In the application, you must state for which months of your child's life you would like to apply for parental allowance and which parental allowance variant you choose.
The amount of parental allowance is calculated individually. The calculation is based on the income that you had before the birth and that is lost after the birth. If you had no income before the birth or no income after the birth, you will receive a minimum amount. With the basic parental allowance, this is at least EUR 300.00 per month.
Tip: You can use the parental allowance calculator from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs to help with planning and calculation.
Important notes
Prerequisites
You can receive parental allowance if you meet the following requirements:
- You look after and raise your child yourself,
- You are resident in Germany or usually stay here,
- You live with your child in a common household,
- You are either not employed at all or usually not more than 32 hours per week,
- The limit of 32 hours per week has a number of special features, for example when you are on vacation or when you are studying or doing an apprenticeship.
- Your taxable income did not exceed EUR 250,000. For couples, the limit is usually EUR 300,000.
Documents required
- Application for parental allowance
- Birth certificate to apply for parental allowance (original)
- Identity card or passport with residence permit
- Certificate A (employer for civil servants / health insurance companies)
- Certificate B (proof of parental leave or part-time work of up to 32 hours from your employer)
- Certificate C (proof of pregnancy-related illness)
- Pay slips at least 14 months before the birth of the child
- Tax assessment from the year before the birth of the child
- Income forecast for income during receipt of parental allowance
- Further documents will be requested if necessary or these can be found in the application documents
Please note
If you have complaints that the parental allowance office has not been able to resolve, you can contact the relevant federal state supervisory authority.
Deadlines
You can only apply for parental allowance after the birth.
It is best to submit the application within the first 3 months of your child's life, because parental allowance is paid retrospectively for a maximum of 3 months.
Procedure & Fees
Procedure
The application must be submitted to the responsible parental allowance office and will be checked and decided upon receipt of all documents.
1. Submit
2. Check
3. Feedback
Processing time
A new specialist procedure for processing parental allowance applications is currently being introduced in the Hamburg parental allowance offices. For this reason, longer processing times can currently be expected.
You can obtain information from the responsible parental allowance office.
Fees
no