Parental allowance

Elterngeld can replace part of the earnings you lose while caring for your child. To qualify, you generally need to live with and care for your child and not work full time. How much you receive depends on your income and the statutory minimum and maximum.

In short

• Elterngeld generally requires a home or habitual residence in Germany, living in a household with the child, caring for and bringing up the child, and not working full time. Cross-border coordination can provide exceptions to the residence condition. You are not working full time when your hours average no more than 32 a week in a month of the child’s life, or when you have qualifying vocational-training employment, or work as a suitable childminder under the applicable rules. Additional work and older birth dates require separate checks.
• For births from 1 April 2025, the claim falls away if taxable income in the calendar year before the birth was more than 175,000 euros. When another person also meets the household test, the two taxable incomes are added. For a birth from 1 April 2024 through 31 March 2025, section 28(5) sets that cap at 200,000 euros. That transitional cap still matters for parents drawing ElterngeldPlus in late 2026. Do not test the limit against gross salary. Elterngeld is tax-free under section 3 number 67(b) of the Income Tax Act, and it is subject to the progression proviso (Progressionsvorbehalt) in section 32b.
• For a full life-month without earnings after birth, the starting Basiselterngeld calculation is 67 percent of statutory net pre-birth earnings from work, after the flat-rate tax and social-security deductions in sections 2c to 2f. The rate can move between 65 and 100 percent. If you continue earning less after birth, the applicable rate is applied to the loss, with pre-birth earnings counted up to 2,770 euros. Basiselterngeld is normally at least 300 euros and at most 1,800 euros per month before applicable offsets and bonuses. It is not a percentage of gross pay. The minimum still depends on the taxable-income limit and the residence and title rules. It is not an automatic payment to every household with a child.
• One parent normally receives at most 12 Basiselterngeld months. A qualifying sole claimant can also use the two partner months under section 4c, making 14 Basiselterngeld months possible. Separation alone does not establish that entitlement.
• Both parents may draw Basiselterngeld together for only one of the first 12 life-months. Section 4(6) allows more than one overlapping month for a multiple birth, a premature birth at least six weeks before the due date under section 4(5), a newly born child with a disability, or a household sibling with a disability who triggers the sibling bonus. The sibling bonus in section 2a(1) is a 10 percent increase, at least 75 euros a month in Basiselterngeld or 37.50 euros in ElterngeldPlus, when another child under 3, two further children under 6, or another child with a disability under 14 lives in the household. The partnership bonus in section 4b is 2 to 4 additional ElterngeldPlus months for each parent working in the same consecutive life-months, or for a qualifying sole parent under section 4c. Each claimant generally works an average of 24 to 32 hours a week. Qualifying vocational-training employment and childminding have an exception to the upper limit; the minimum and the other conditions still apply.
• Relevant maternity benefits for the same child reduce that parent’s Elterngeld and count as Basiselterngeld months, even if entitlement lasts only part of a life-month. They are not extra months on top. The federal one-off maternity payment of up to 210 euros is an exception to this offset; an employer supplement can still count.
• Apply in writing. Section 7 pays Elterngeld backwards only for the last 3 months of the child’s life before the month in which the application arrived.
• A study permit does not qualify unless you are working, on Elternzeit, or receiving the Book III benefits section 1 (7) names. EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens are outside that title test.

What you need to know

Section 1 gives the claim to a person who has a home or habitual residence in Germany, lives with the child, cares for and brings up the child, and has no job or no full-time job. The statute also covers certain people posted abroad.

Cross-border coordination can apply, for example when a person lives in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland and works in Germany. Which country pays first and whether a supplement is due depend on the circumstances; ask the responsible offices.

Twins and other multiples give rise to one Elterngeld claim, not one per baby. Section 2a (4) adds a Mehrlingszuschlag for the second and each further child from that birth: 300 euros a month with Basiselterngeld, or 150 euros with ElterngeldPlus under section 4a (2).

You are not working full time when your hours average no more than 32 a week across the month of the child’s life, or when you have qualifying vocational-training employment, or work as a suitable childminder under the applicable rules. For a child born or received for adoption from 1 May 2025, section 1(6) refers to a suitable childminder under sections 23 and 43 of Book VIII of the Social Code.

For an earlier birth or admission, section 28 preserves the earlier rule, which limits the childminder exception to care for no more than five children. Federal guidance says additional paid work is assessed together with childminding or training hours; ask the Elterngeldstelle to check the combination.

Section 2a(1) adds a sibling bonus (Geschwisterbonus) of 10 percent, at least 75 euros a month, when another child under 3 lives in the household, or two further children under 6. Another child with a disability under 14 counts under the age limit in section 2a(2). In ElterngeldPlus, section 4a(2) halves that minimum, so the floor is 37.50 euros.

Section 4b adds a partnership bonus (Partnerschaftsbonus) of 2 to 4 additional ElterngeldPlus months when both parents each generally work 24 to 32 hours a week on average in the same consecutive life-months and both meet section 1. A qualifying sole parent can draw those 2 to 4 months under section 4c(2), generally while working 24 to 32 hours a week.

Federal guidance treats the upper limit as met for qualifying vocational-training employment or suitable childminding; the minimum hours and other conditions still apply. Ask the office how any additional work is counted.

The 175,000 euro limit below applies to births from 1 April 2025. For a birth from 1 April 2024 through 31 March 2025, section 28(5) uses the same taxable-income test at 200,000 euros. Parents drawing ElterngeldPlus in late 2026 can still be inside that transitional window, because ElterngeldPlus can run into the child’s 32nd life-month. Births before 1 April 2024 follow the other transitional rules in section 28.

The income limit uses taxable income, the zu versteuerndes Einkommen in the calendar year before the child’s birth, not the gross salary on a payslip. The claim falls away if that income was more than the cap for the birth. If another person also lives with the child and meets the household test, the claim falls away when the two taxable incomes together are more than that cap.

Elterngeld is exempt from income tax under section 3 number 67(b) of the Income Tax Act. It is still subject to the progression proviso (Progressionsvorbehalt) in section 32b, so it can raise the rate on other taxable income.

If you are a foreign national without free-movement rights, you qualify only with a residence title listed in section 1 (7), such as a settlement permit or a Blue Card, or a residence permit authorising gainful employment for at least 6 months, subject to the exceptions in that section. A study permit under section 16b does not qualify unless you are working, on Elternzeit, or receiving ongoing Book III benefits. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens are outside that title test.

The ordinary individual maximum of 12 Basiselterngeld months has exceptions. Under section 4c, one parent can also draw the two partner months if earnings from work are reduced for two of the child’s life-months and one of the section’s conditions applies. The single-parent route requires the conditions for the single-parent tax relief under section 24b(1) and (3) of the Income Tax Act, and the other parent must live neither with the claimant nor with the child.

Other routes cover danger to the child’s welfare from the other parent’s care, or care being impossible, for example because of severe illness or severe disability. Economic reasons or the other parent’s work alone do not establish that impossibility. Ask the Elterngeldstelle to assess your situation; living separately is not enough on its own.

Statutory Mutterschaftsgeld and the employer’s maternity-pay supplement for the same child are credited against the receiving parent’s Elterngeld from birth. If Elterngeld is higher, only the difference is paid in addition. The offset is calculated by day, but a life-month with entitlement to relevant maternity benefits even for one day counts as a Basiselterngeld month for that parent. Plan those months inside the allocation, not on top of it.

The federal one-off payment of up to 210 euros is not credited in this way; an employer supplement remains relevant. Familienportal explains the interaction and examples, including different rules for other benefits.

Elternzeit is the separate leave you take from work; it is not the Elterngeld payment. Section 15 gives an employee leave until the child turns 3. Up to 24 months can be taken between the third and eighth birthdays. You cannot sign away this right.

During leave, paid work is generally limited to an average of 32 hours a week, or 30 for a child born or received for adoption before 1 September 2021. Suitable childminding is an exception, subject to the applicable version of section 15 and, for earlier children, the five-child limit described above. The vocational-training exception for Elterngeld does not itself exempt paid training from the separate parental-leave limit.

What to do

1. Check the taxable-income limit for the calendar year before the child’s birth, and add the other parent’s figure when the statute says the sum counts. The cap is 175,000 euros for a birth from 1 April 2025, and 200,000 euros under section 28(5) for a birth from 1 April 2024 through 31 March 2025. Do not test the limit against a monthly gross salary. Attach the tax assessment for that preceding year if it is available. If it is still outstanding, the relevant year does not change; ask the Elterngeldstelle about provisional approval and the evidence to submit.

2. Plan by the child’s life-months. Together, parents normally have 12 monthly amounts of Basiselterngeld, plus 2 partner months if earnings are lower for 2 life-months. One parent normally takes at most 12 and at least 2 months; check the sole-claimant exception in section 4c described above. Include relevant maternity-benefit months in that parent’s Basiselterngeld allocation. One Basiselterngeld month can instead be taken as 2 ElterngeldPlus months, subject to the applicable rules. Basiselterngeld ordinarily runs within the first 14 life-months. Both parents may draw it together for only 1 of the first 12 life-months. Section 4(6) allows parallel Basiselterngeld for more than one of those months in four cases: a multiple birth, a premature birth at least six weeks before the due date under section 4(5), a newly born child with a medically established disability, or a household sibling with a disability who triggers the sibling bonus under section 2a(1) read with section 2a(2) sentence 3. Premature birth can also add months and extend that period; give the office the certified expected birth date when checking your plan.

3. For a full life-month without earnings after birth, the starting Basiselterngeld calculation, before applicable offsets and bonuses, is 67 percent of statutory net pre-birth earnings from work, normally at least 300 euros and at most 1,800 euros a month. Section 2(1) starts from positive earnings from employment and self-employment taxable in Germany. Qualifying foreign earnings taxed in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland can also count; give the Elterngeldstelle the relevant evidence and ask it to assess your case. The calculation then subtracts the flat-rate tax and social-security deductions in sections 2c to 2f. It is not a percentage of gross pay.

   For non-self-employed earnings, the starting assessment period in section 2b is the 12 calendar months before the calendar month of birth. For an employed birth mother without self-employment income, the period is usually the 12 calendar months before the month in which maternity protection began. Section 2b normally skips months when she was prohibited from working during maternity protection or received the maternity or sickness benefits it names; she may ask for those months to be included. Other exclusions can shift either parent’s period, and mixed employment and self-employment income has its own rules.

   For a self-employed parent, it is usually the profit periods of the last completed tax assessment period before the birth. The office applies the exceptions in section 2b.

   Under 1,000 euros of that net income the percentage rises, up to 100 percent. Over 1,200 euros it falls, down to 65 percent, by 0.1 points for each 2 euros. If you still earn less after birth, the applicable percentage is applied to the drop in the statutory net income, and pre-birth earnings count only up to 2,770 euros. The office does the arithmetic, including maternity-benefit offsets.

4. Apply in writing. Section 7 pays Elterngeld backwards only for the last 3 months of the child’s life before the month in which the application arrived. State your Basiselterngeld, ElterngeldPlus and partnership-bonus months, and submit evidence of maternity benefits and any employer supplement where relevant. The other parent generally signs to show they have seen the application. Use Familienportal’s application instructions to find the office responsible for the child’s home and the Land’s form or digital route.

5. If you also want Elternzeit, notify the employer at least 7 weeks before leave taken before the child turns 3, and at least 13 weeks before leave between the third and the eighth birthday. For children born from 1 May 2025, text form such as an email is enough; for earlier births, the request must be in writing with your signature. For the early period, say at the same time which stretches you will take inside 2 years. The employer certifies the leave. A Kita place is a separate decision.

Find the official form before paying for assistance

Use Familienportal to reach your Land’s application route and ask the responsible Elterngeldstelle about your documents and proposed months. A private planning or form-filling service is optional; check its operator, price and exact task before sharing family and income data. Keep evidence of submission to the actual office. Purchasing assistance does not itself submit the application or protect the three-life-month retroactive payment limit.

Common mistakes

• Comparing the 175,000 euro limit with gross pay or with a tax class. The limit uses taxable income in the calendar year before the child’s birth, even if the assessment for that year is not yet available.
• Treating the 67 percent rate as a share of gross pay. Section 2 uses statutory net earnings from work, after the flat-rate tax and social-security deductions in sections 2c to 2f.
• Budgeting 12 or 14 new Basiselterngeld months after maternity benefits end. Relevant maternity-benefit life-months already count in the receiving parent’s allocation. Check the 210 euro federal payment separately from an employer supplement.
• Assuming ordinary work above the applicable average leaves the benefit unchanged, or assuming all training and childminding qualify for an exception. Check the type of work, the child’s birth or admission date, and any additional work with the office.
• Assuming a student residence permit includes Elterngeld. Section 1 (7) excludes the study permit unless you are working, on Elternzeit, or receiving the Book III benefits it names.
• Telling the employer about Elternzeit only in a conversation. The notice period is 7 or 13 weeks depending on the child’s age. Use text form for births from 1 May 2025 and a signed written request for earlier births; a conversation does not meet either requirement.