Factsheet for measure
DE-2020-31/1692
–
Updated
– measures in Germany
Child benefit top-up
Kinderzuschlag zum Kindergeld (BMFSFJ)
Background information
Germany's pandemic response, including lock-downs, social distancing measures, occupational bans and business confinements, has disproportionally affected low-income households (Hövermann 2020). With over 10 million employees working under Germany's short-time work scheme (
Kurzarbeit
) already back in May 2020, income top-ups such as child benefits, housing benefits or unemployment benefits have increased in importance (Focus online 2020). To improve the situation of low-income households, the government has eased access to the child benefit top up (
Kinderzuschlag
) in Summer 2020 and increased the top-up from January 2021. This is an additional social benefit on top of the regular child benefit (
Kindergeld
).
Content of measure
Families eligible for child benefits can apply for a top-up. The measure includes easier access to the top-up and an increase of the top-up from January 2021. Eligibility depends on various factors such as household income, housing cost, family size and the age of the children living in the household.
The Government eased access to the top-up in Summer 2020 by increasing the savings threshold (
Zweites Familienentlastungsgetz
, December 2020). Low-income families can apply for a monthly top-up to their child benefits of up to €185 per child. In October 2020, the government decided to increase the amount to a maximum of €205 per child from 1 January 2021.
Updates
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
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27 December 2023
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Starting on 1. January 2024, the child benefit top-up will be raised to €292 per month per child and will cover the needs of one child in combination with child benefit.
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28 November 2022
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The federal government announced at the end of November 2022 that it will raise the child benefit up once more. Starting from 1 January 2023, the top up will be raised to €250 per month, in order to ease burdens of low-income families in times of strong inflation.
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21 March 2022
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Easier access to the child benefit top up was prolonged until 31 December 2022. Parents without significant assets do not have to provide any information on their financial situation to receive the benefit.
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01 January 2022
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From 1 January 2022, the maximum amount of the child benefit rose from €205 per child in 2021 to €209 per child.
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30 December 2021
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As the COVID-19 pandemic continued to burden families, the Federal Government prolonged to grant period for the child benefit top up until the end of March 2022.
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10 March 2021
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The Third Corona Tax Support Law of 10 March 2021 extended the measure. Households receive a top-up of €150 for every child eligible for child benefits in 2021.
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Use of measure
A growing number of households make use of the measure. As of January 2020 the number of children covered by the measure was 299,168 children. By the end of October of the same year, the number had increased to 888,398 children (Jugendhilfeportal, 2020).
The policy impact has to be evaluated in interdependence with other social benefit schemes. The child-benefit top-up is one of over one hundred different grants or tax deductions provided for families in Germany. The benefits bureaucracy has increased in the course of the economic and social crisis that is accompanying the pandemic in Germany (ZDF, 2020). The broad variety of measures means that families face the risk of benefit repayment. Successful application for some measures disables eligibility for others (see Focus online, 2020). The measures decrease financial hardship in low-income household, but potentially increases the risk of household debt.
While the number of recipients for child benefit rose only slightly from 9,507,000 in 2019 to 9,730,000 in 2020, the volume of expenses for the programme rose from approximately €39 billion in 2019 to €46 billion in 2020. The increase is correlated to COVID-19 related measures in this area.
According to the latest statistics by the Federal Statistical Office, there were nearly 9.6 million recipients of the regular child benefit in 2021 with around €47.6 billion spent on the programme. The statistic does not detail how many of the the recipients also applied for the top-up.
According to the latest statistics by the family fund of the federal employment agency (December 2023), there were 10.4 million recipients of the regular child benefit in 2023 with around €54,2 billion spent on the programme. 413,000 recipients received a top-up.
Target groups
Actors and funding
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Actors
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Funding
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National government
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National funds
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Social partners
Social partners' role in
designing the measure
and form of involvement:
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Trade unions
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Employers' organisations
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Role
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No involvement
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No involvement
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Form
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Not applicable
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Not applicable
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Social partners' role in the
implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
-
No involvement
-
Main level of involvement: N/A
Involvement
Social partners are usually consulted by the Federal Government when drafting national laws or other major regulations concerning the labour market. No formal tripartite social dialogue structure exists to design pandemic control measures. Germany's pandemic response is based on government by decrees, without parliamentary participation.
Views and reactions
Public statements by social partners have informally influenced the design of BMFSFJ policy measure related to the government's pandemic response.
Sources
