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If you look after your child after the birth, the parental allowance compensates for any lack of income.

Parental allowance is a benefit for parents of babies and small children. It replaces part of the lost income if you want to be there for your child after the birth and interrupt or reduce your professional work. Parental allowance is also available for parents who had no income at all before the birth.

There are three types of parental allowance:
- Basic parental allowance
- Parental allowance plus
- Partnership bonus

Parental Allowance Plus and the partnership bonus provide particular support if you share the work and family responsibilities as partners after the birth.

Even if you are a single parent, you can apply for the different variants. Parental allowance is also available for adopted children and children in foster care.

As parents, you can decide for yourself who receives parental allowance and for how long. In the application, you must specify the months of your child's life for which 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 you had before the birth and which ceases after the birth. If you had no income before the birth or no income after the birth, you will receive a minimum amount. For 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 you plan and calculate.

• Application form
• Birth certificate or birth certificate of your child
• Proof of income
• Certificate of receipt of maternity benefit
• Certificate of employer's allowance
• Confirmation of working hours if you are employed while receiving parental allowance

Depending on your individual situation, further documents may be required. You will find further information in the application documents.

You can receive parental allowance if you meet the following requirements:

• You look after and bring up your child yourself.
• You have a place of residence in Germany or usually stay here.
• You live with your child in a shared household.
• You are either not employed at all or generally do not work more than 32 hours per week.
  • There are several exceptions to the limit of 32 hours per week, for example if you are on vacation, studying or doing an apprenticeship.
• Your taxable income did not exceed 250,000 euros. For births from April 1, 2025, the limit of 175,000 euros applies. This applies equally to couples and single parents.

There are no costs.

You can obtain information from the relevant parental allowance office.

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, as parental allowance is paid retroactively for a maximum of 3 months.

If you have a complaint that the parental allowance office has not been able to resolve, you can contact the relevant supervisory authority in your federal state.

• Appeal
  You can find more information on how to lodge an appeal in your parental allowance notification.
• Complaint to the social court

• Parental allowance approval
• Replacement for part of the income that is lost when taking time off work to care for the child after the birth
• three variants:
  • Basic parental allowance
  • Parental allowance plus
  • Partnership bonus
• Parental Allowance Plus and partnership bonus support the division of family and paid work between partners
• Parental allowance also possible for
  • unemployed people
  • students
  • Single parents
  • Adopted children/children in adoptive care
• Responsible: regional parental allowance offices

You can apply for Parental Allowance and Parental Allowance Plus at the parental allowance offices of the districts and independent cities.

Parental allowance office

Forms available: Yes

Written form required: Yes

Informal application possible: No

Personal appearance necessary: No

Online services available: partly (depending on the federal state)