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Correction to parental allowance plans: Parental allowance should continue to be paid for 14 months
The plans to cut parental allowance had received a lot of criticism. A new draft from CDU Family Minister Prien's house now looks completely different. more...
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epd | The federal government is correcting its plans for cuts in parental allowance. The maximum benefit period of 14 months should be retained, according to a paper from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs that was available to the Evangelical Press Service on Wednesday.
A shortening to 12 months was announced in the summer. According to the ministry, the new draft was submitted for internal government coordination on Wednesday. ARD first reported on it.
According to the paper, it is also planned that four months of parental allowance will be reserved for each parent in the future. The other six months can be divided as you wish. To date, each parent has had to claim at least 2 months for the full benefit period of 14 months. Since mothers generally take more parental leave, there is often talk of two “father months”.
Currently, parental allowance is usually 65 percent of the net income before the birth of the child. The new plans stipulate that 80 percent will be paid in the months reserved for one parent, but only 50 percent in the other months. The minimum amount is to increase from 300 to 330 euros, the maximum amount from 1,800 to 1,900 euros. This was already planned in the summer.
The aim is to make parental allowance “more cooperative, financially attractive and simpler”, says the ministry’s paper. “It becomes financially more attractive for fathers to take an active role in the early phase of the family.” At the end of September, Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) declared that she would reconsider her savings plans for parental allowance.