Family Minister Prien is planning an income limit for maintenance advances

Bill from Family Minister Prien plans income limit for maintenance advances As of: November 11th, 2026 • 7:01 p.m

Income limit, instead of shortened payment: Family Minister Prien has presented a bill on maintenance advances. Parents who do not pay should be held more accountable - for example with driving bans.

The shortened payment of maintenance advances to single parents is apparently off the table. The benefit should continue to flow until the child's 18th birthday, said Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) during a government survey in the Bundestag. The current draft law now provides for an income limit. In the future, single parents who earn more than 40,000 euros a year can no longer expect the state to step in with an advance on maintenance if the other parent does not pay.

The limit moves up by 10,000 euros for each additional child. According to the minister, the lower limit is a gross monthly income of around 4,500 euros for one child. She spoke of a good compromise. “Children need maintenance, but of course primarily from their parents. I want to make that very clear,” said Prien.

In the summer, her department announced that in future the 16th birthday should be the end date.

If one parent does not pay maintenance for their children, the state steps in. more

In addition, parents who do not pay maintenance as planned should be held “more accountable,” said the minister. That is the core of the bill. According to the ministry, those unwilling to pay should be able to be put under pressure with, among other things, driving bans. The seizure of income should also be possible to a greater extent than before.

According to the ministry, the draft was sent to the other departments, which can comment on it. This is a step towards the cabinet decision. So changes are still possible before the federal government finally votes on them. According to information from the ARD capital studio, the income limit should come into effect from 2029. The remaining changes should therefore come into force in spring 2027.

In the future, the federal government only wants to pay advance maintenance payments until children reach their 16th birthday. more

The state pays the maintenance advance for children of single parents if one partner does not fulfill his maintenance obligation. In 2024, the federal and state governments paid around 3.2 billion euros of this advance to single parents. The authorities were only able to get a small part of the money - around 17 percent - back from the parents who were actually responsible for maintenance.

In the coalition agreement, the Union and the SPD agreed to put more pressure on parents who are liable for maintenance and do not pay. “We also do not lose sight of the goal of reducing the burden on the federal budget, but also on the budgets of the states and municipalities, through targeted provision of benefits and more effectiveness in recourse,” said Prien.

The ministry expects the reform to result in savings amounting to millions in both the federal and state governments, it said at the request of the ARD capital studio. Accordingly, expectations are at least 100 million euros in the federal budget and at least 150 million euros in the state budgets per year.

There was criticism of the plans from the Left Party and the Greens. Mareike Hermeier, spokeswoman for single parents, described it as criticizing the plans as a "slap in the face to all people who take on family and job alone." A single parent with an annual income of 40,000 euros is not “too rich” to receive advance maintenance payments.

The Green Party finance politician Katharina Beck called the draft bill “completely insane” in terms of labor policy. "Anyone who reduces their work below the threshold has more money for the family because they are then entitled to a subsidy of an average of over 300 euros net per child." That's bad for the job market and mothers - and doesn't do much for the household, Beck told the ARD capital studio.

With information from Sarah Beham, ARD Capital Studio

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | Maintenance advance: Prien plans income limits and driving bans | 11/11/2026 | 4:37 p.m.BR24 Radio | News | 11/11/2026 | 5:04 p.m