Elterngeld (parental allowance): the current rules

What exactly is Elterngeld?

In Germany, Elterngeld (parental allowance) is a benefit for parents of babies and small children that is intended to help with raising and caring for a child. If parents are temporarily able to work less or not at all after the birth, parental allowance is meant to secure the family's livelihood. It is also intended to make sure that childcare is covered for parents who had no income before the birth either.

Parental allowance is divided into Basiselterngeld (basic parental allowance), ElterngeldPlus and the Partnerschaftsbonus (partnership bonus).

How long can you draw parental allowance?

The earliest starting point for parental allowance is, of course, the birth of the child. Parental allowance is paid monthly, starting on the child's date of birth. This also means that it is not paid by calendar month but by so-called “months of life” of the child.

How long parental allowance lasts depends on which variant you choose.

Basiselterngeld

Parents can draw Basiselterngeld for up to 12 months of the child's life. If both partners draw parental allowance and at least one of them has a lower income after the birth, parental allowance can even be drawn for up to 14 months. These additional months are called partner months, but they can also be drawn by single parents.

Unlike ElterngeldPlus, however, Basiselterngeld can only be drawn within the first 14 months of the child's life. After that, only the partnership bonus or ElterngeldPlus can be received.

It is important to know that while the mother is receiving maternity pay (Mutterschaftsgeld) or other maternity benefits for the child, she cannot receive Basiselterngeld – but those months are still deducted from the Basiselterngeld months. The partner, on the other hand, is free to choose whether to take ElterngeldPlus or the partnership bonus during that period.

ElterngeldPlus

While Basiselterngeld can only be applied for for up to 14 months, ElterngeldPlus runs twice as long. One month of life with Basiselterngeld corresponds to two months of life with ElterngeldPlus.

The maximum limit for ElterngeldPlus is 32 months, that is, at most until the child is 2 years and 8 months old. From the 14th month of life onwards, these 32 months have to be drawn without interruption by at least one parent, otherwise the entitlement lapses.

How much is parental allowance?

The amount of parental allowance depends on the parents' circumstances and on the variant of parental allowance. It can be calculated for each individual situation using the parental allowance calculator. That lets you try out how Basiselterngeld and ElterngeldPlus can best be combined.

In principle, though, it is based first of all on net income over the 12 months before the birth of the child. For Basiselterngeld, the average net income is then multiplied by a percentage factor of 65. Parents on parental leave accordingly receive 65% of their pay as parental allowance.

There is, however, an upper limit. It is €1,800 per month. That means that even if 65% of the average net income would come to more than €1,800, a parent would still not receive more than this maximum amount

Which income is taken into account when calculating parental allowance?

In principle, all earnings from employment count when parental allowance is calculated, including, for example, a mini-job. Tax-free extras such as tips and bonuses are left out, however.

For self-employed work, all profits from self-employment, from a commercial business and from agriculture and forestry are taken into account. Losses, however, are not included.

ElterngeldPlus

The amount of ElterngeldPlus likewise depends on the parent's income after the birth of the child. In principle it comes to half of Basiselterngeld. In return, though, it can be drawn for twice as long.

Is parental allowance taxed?

If employees change health insurer during parental leave, the employer has to inform the new insurer about the parental leave. This is done by a start notification. The employer does not have to send an end notification to the old health insurer.

If the employee resigns during parental leave, the employer submits an end notification with the date on which the employment ends.

What has been different since 1 April 2024?

For parents whose child is born after 1 April 2024, new rules apply to how Basiselterngeld is divided between partners. In future they may only draw Basiselterngeld at the same time for a maximum of one month, and only within the first 12 months of their child's life.

The only exceptions are for children born particularly early, parents of multiple births, and parents of newborns with disabilities or with a sibling who has a disability.

As soon as one parent draws ElterngeldPlus, however, the other parent can also receive Basiselterngeld or ElterngeldPlus at the same time for longer than one month.

What is changing for parental allowance in 2026?

As part of the federal ministry's savings targets, the income limit for parental allowance was already lowered for births from 1 April 2024. The income limit is the taxable annual income of a couple, or of a single person, up to which there is an entitlement to parental allowance. If this income limit is exceeded, the parents have no entitlement to parental allowance. In 2024 this limit was already lowered from €300,000 to €200,000. On 1 April 2025 the limit was lowered once again. As a result, couples with a taxable annual income of more than €175,000 and single people with a taxable annual income of more than €150,000 will have no entitlement to parental allowance.

In its 2025 coalition agreement, the federal government announced a reform of parental allowance. For now, though, parents still have to make do with the old rules.

Who pays parental allowance? 

Unlike the employer's supplement to maternity pay, where the employer pays up front, parental allowance itself is a purely state benefit. These are the key facts: 

• Responsibility: It is paid out directly to employees by the responsible Elterngeldstelle (parental allowance office) of the municipality or district.
• No ancillary wage costs: Because the employment relationship is dormant during parental leave and the state takes over the payment, the company incurs no direct salary or social security costs for the employees on leave during this period.
• The bureaucratic part: The company's role is primarily limited to its duty to cooperate. On request from the parental allowance office, employers have to submit the pay statements for the 12 months before the birth so that the authorities can calculate the exact amount of the entitlement.

What exactly is the Partnerschaftsbonus?

The Partnerschaftsbonus (partnership bonus) is an additional bonus within the ElterngeldPlus scheme. It is designed to encourage parents to share parental leave and to create incentives for looking after the child together.

With the partnership bonus, parents can each draw a further 2, 3 or 4 months of ElterngeldPlus. If both work part-time at the same time, between €150 and €900 a month on top of their own pay can be added for up to 4 months. It can be used before, between or after the remaining parental allowance months, and also while Basiselterngeld is being drawn.

Both parents have to meet the following conditions:

• Both draw the partnership bonus
• The partnership bonus is applied for for at least 2 and at most 4 months.
• These months of life follow directly on from one another
• During this period both parents work part-time, each of them at least 24 and at most 32 hours a week

If these conditions are not met for any reason during the 2 to 4 months (because too much overtime is worked, for example), this has to be reported to the parental allowance office.

Separated parents can also draw this partnership bonus.

Example

To make all these rules a little more tangible, here is an example. Suppose a couple has the following financial situation before the birth of their child:

• Average net income of the first parent: €3,000 per month
• Average net income of the second parent: €2,500 per month

Basiselterngeld

The first parent opts for Basiselterngeld and receives 65% of their average net income over the 12 months before the birth of the child, but no more than €1,800 per month.

Since the upper limit for Basiselterngeld is €1,800, however, the first parent receives €1,800 per month. Basiselterngeld is applied for for 12 months.

ElterngeldPlus

The second parent opts for ElterngeldPlus. ElterngeldPlus comes to 50% of the original Basiselterngeld.

ElterngeldPlus can therefore be drawn for twice as long as Basiselterngeld – for a maximum of 24 months.