Basic support for jobseekers

If you can work but need help covering your living costs, you may qualify for Grundsicherungsgeld. This basic support is administered by the Jobcenter and is for people who ordinarily live in Germany. It replaced Bürgergeld on 1 July 2026, though authorities may use the old name until 31 December 2026. The Federal Ministry of Labour calls it basic support for jobseekers (Grundsicherung für Arbeitsuchende). It comes under Book II of the Social Code; unemployment insurance is a separate benefit.

In short

• Apply at the Jobcenter responsible for where you ordinarily live. This is separate from the Agentur für Arbeit, unless its office also serves as your Jobcenter. Take your identity and residence documents, plus evidence of your rent, income and savings.
• Section 7 excludes an opportunity card, a right of residence that comes only from looking for work, training, or a study place, and the first three months of some stays. Students whose training is fundable under the Federal Training Assistance Act are, with the exceptions in section 7, excluded from living-cost support beyond section 27.
• The standard amount depends on your household type and the national rates for the year. A single adult or single parent is in level 1; each adult in a couple is in level 2. Check the current euro amounts for your situation.
• If the award includes housing costs, section 7 of the Housing Benefit Act generally excludes Wohngeld. Arbeitslosengeld is a separate Book III benefit.

What you need to know

Under section 7, you may receive support if you are at least 15, have not reached the age limit in section 7a, can work, need help and ordinarily live in Germany. People in your household who form a Bedarfsgemeinschaft with you can also receive support. Subject to the conditions in section 7, this benefit community includes partners and unmarried children under 25 who live with you and cannot cover their own living costs.

Section 7 excludes some foreign nationals from support. During the first three months of their stay, the exclusion applies to people who are neither workers nor self-employed and do not retain free movement under section 2(3) of the Free Movement Act, and to their family members. This three-month exclusion does not apply to a residence title under Chapter 2, Division 5 of the Residence Act, which covers humanitarian and related grounds.

The section also excludes people with no right of residence, and people whose right of residence comes only from looking for work, a training place or a study place, or from an opportunity card under section 20a of the Residence Act. Their family members are also excluded. Benefits for asylum seekers come under a separate law.

After at least five years of ordinary residence, a person may come within the scheme again, subject to the exception in section 7. The five-year period starts when you register at the Meldebehörde. Periods of unlawful stay with an obligation to leave do not count.

Under section 19, support covers standard living costs, additional needs, housing and heating to the extent that your income and assets do not cover them. Section 20 describes the standard amount as a monthly payment for food, clothes, hygiene, household goods, household energy other than heating and hot water, and participation in social and cultural life.

The amount depends on the year’s standard-need levels, set through the federal assessment law and annual update regulation named in section 20. A single adult or single parent is in level 1; each adult in a couple is in level 2. Other household members who can work follow the levels in subsection 2. Section 23 adds rules for members who cannot work, including age bands for children.

If you move out before age 25 without the municipal provider’s assurance, you may remain on a lower level until you turn 25.

Students whose training is fundable under the Federal Training Assistance Act are, with the exceptions in section 7, excluded from living-cost support beyond section 27. Read the BAföG page before you assume both payments.

What to do

1. Apply at the Jobcenter responsible for where you ordinarily live, rather than the Agentur für Arbeit, unless that Agency office is also your Jobcenter. Take your identity and residence documents and evidence of rent, income and savings.
2. Check the residence-related exclusions in section 7 before relying on the payment. They include an opportunity card, a right of residence based only on looking for work, and the first three months of some stays.
3. Expect the standard amount to be the national level for your household type for that year, plus housing if it is recognised. Do not copy a euro figure from an old year. The Jobcenter applies the regulation in force.
4. If your award includes housing costs, section 7 of the Housing Benefit Act generally excludes you from Wohngeld. Ask the Jobcenter or housing-benefit office about exceptions. Cooperation duties, including job search, come with the benefit. The current sanction rules are in the note below.

Common mistakes

• Quoting a single euro standard for every household. Section 20 points to yearly levels and distinguishes level 1 and level 2.
• Assuming Wohngeld stacks with an award that already includes housing costs. The housing-benefit exclusion and its exceptions are on that page and in section 7 of that Act.
• Confusing Arbeitslosengeld with Grundsicherungsgeld. Unemployment insurance benefit comes under Book III; this basic support comes under Book II.