Germany plans first Elterngeld increase since 2007, keeping the 14-month entitlement

Higher minimum and maximum rates

On 28 October the Federal Family Ministry announced that the Elterngeld would rise for the first time since its introduction in 2007. The minimum monthly payment would go from 300 to 330 euros, and the maximum from 1,800 to 1,900 euros. The changes are part of a draft bill that has entered internal coordination within the government, so nothing has been formally decided yet. Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) told the German Press Agency that the coalition had found a good solution.

“We have agreed to develop Elterngeld structurally further and adapt it better to the current living reality of young families.”

The Union and the SPD had agreed in their coalition agreement to reform the benefit and raise it. Prien's draft was worked out under strict savings requirements, which is why the reform has drawn scrutiny. No start date for the new rules has been set out so far.

Fourteen months kept, with a new split

A ministry document seen by the ARD Berlin studio shows that the entitlement will stay at up to 14 months, reversing an earlier plan to cut it to 12. The model described in the document is a 4-6-4 split: each parent reserves four months, and the remaining six can be divided between them freely. Both parents may again draw Elterngeld at the same time without limit, and single parents can still receive up to 14 months. In the summer, the ministry had drafted a cut from 14 to 12 months under tight savings targets, with three reserved months per parent and six shared months. Under that earlier model, a family in which only one parent took leave would have received at most nine months of support. The cut is now off the table, and Prien has said the draft also keeps the federal budget in view so that taxpayers are not burdened more every year.

Higher replacement rate for the reserved months

In the reserved months, parents would receive 80 percent of their net income from before the birth, compared with roughly 65 percent for each month of basic Elterngeld under the current rules. Every further month would pay 50 percent of net income. Net income for the calculation would also include Christmas bonuses and other special payments. The ministry says these changes make it more financially attractive for fathers to take an active role in the early phase of family life.

“We are deliberately sending a signal to young families: we support you.”

The benefit has been paid since 2007 as income replacement for mothers and fathers who take time off work to care for a child. A study by the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft found that, because it has never been adjusted for inflation, the benefit has lost about 38 percent of its purchasing power since its introduction.

Recipients and spending

About seven billion euros was spent on Elterngeld in 2025, when 1.6 million people received it. The federal government put the 2021 figure at more than 1.8 million recipients. In 2024, 290,105 people received the maximum rate and 349,157 received the minimum rate, which shows how many recipients sit at the lower end of the scale.

Maximum rate290,105

Minimum rate349,157

Maximum rate

290105 people

Minimum rate

349157 people

Data from the article text