Berlin Shifts Parental Allowance: Shorter Duration, Higher Monthly Payouts to Save €500 Million a Year
Veröffentlicht: 07.07.2026 um 13:12 Uhr, Redaktion boerse-global.de
Germany’s coalition government is pushing through changes to its parental allowance system that will shorten the maximum benefit period from 14 to 12 months, while simultaneously lifting the minimum and maximum monthly payments. The draft law, authored by Karin Prien (CDU), has been under inter-ministerial review since early July and aims to cut federal spending by roughly half a billion euros annually.
Starting with the 2027 fiscal year, the government expects to slash outlays by around €540 million, with long-term savings stabilising at about €500 million per year. The savings come almost entirely from the reduced overall duration of benefits. Monthly rates, by contrast, will increase: the minimum rises from €300 to €330, the maximum from €1,800 to €1,900. The income replacement rate of 65% remains unchanged, and the income threshold for eligibility stays at €175,000.
Under the new rules, each parent will be required to take three months of leave—up from the current mandatory two partner months. The remaining six months can be divided flexibly between them. Single parents keep their current entitlement of up to 12 full months of parental allowance. At the same time, the ministry plans to amend the Maternity Protection Act (Mutterschutzgesetz), limiting employment prohibitions to 12 months after childbirth.
The reforms land in a system that already serves a stable number of recipients. In 2025, about 1.61 million people drew parental allowance—1.19 million women and 417,000 men, giving a fathers’ share of 25.9%. Total expenditure that year reached €7.1 billion.
Family and women’s organisations are sharply critical. The German Women’s Council (Deutscher Frauenrat) outright rejects the cuts. The German Family Association (DFV) demands that the existing 14-month option be kept without compulsory split between partners. The Future Forum Family (Zukunftsforum Familie, ZFF) is calling for the minimum benefit to be raised to €506. The debate now moves to parliamentary scrutiny, where the proposed duration and reserved months are expected to face stiff opposition.
