Another 14 months - roll backwards in parental allowance

According to plans by Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU), parental allowance should not be reduced to twelve months. This emerges from a document from the Family Ministry, which is available exclusively to the ARD capital studio. Accordingly, parental allowance should continue to be paid out for 14 months.

This is what the Family Ministry is planning

These incentives are intended to encourage fathers to spend more time looking after their children - a clear goal of the black-red coalition.

Ministry must save

The Ministry of Education and Family Affairs, like all ministers, must make savings. In the summer, the ministry drew up a draft of a parental allowance reform under strict austerity guidelines.

This included, among other things, a reduction in the benefit period from 14 to 12 months. Three months of parental allowance would have been reserved for each parent. The partners could have divided it up between themselves for another six months. In this model, if only one parent had decided to take parental leave, the state would have provided help for a maximum of nine months.

Parental allowance was introduced in 2007 and was intended to improve the compatibility of family and work. Since then, a minimum of 300 euros per month and a maximum of 1,800 euros have been available upon request. The following currently applies: Parental allowance is paid for 14 months after the birth of a child if both parents contribute to the care for at least two months each. In the coalition agreement, the black-red government planned to further develop parental allowance and provide more incentives for more father participation.