Elterngeld/Elterngeld Plus

If you look after your child after the birth, the parental allowance compensates for any lack of income.

Parental allowance is a benefit for parents of infants and young children. It replaces part of the lost income if you want to be there for your child after the birth and interrupt or reduce your professional work. You can also receive parental allowance if you had no income before the birth of your child.

There are three types of parental allowance: Basic Parental Allowance, Parental Allowance Plus and Partnership Bonus. You can combine these variants in different ways.

As parents, you can decide for yourself who receives parental allowance and for how long. In the application, you must specify the months of your child's life for which you would like to apply for parental allowance and which entitlement variant you choose.

How long you receive parental allowance depends on whether you opt for Basic Parental Allowance or Parental Allowance Plus or a combination of both and whether you want to use the partnership bonus. The following applies:

• Basic Parental Allowance can only be drawn within the first 14 months of the child's life.
• Parental Allowance Plus and Partnership Bonus can also be drawn beyond the first 14 months of life.

From the 15th month of life, parental allowance must be claimed by at least one parent every month (uninterrupted receipt).

The amount of your parental allowance also depends on the type of benefit you receive and your income before and after the birth.

Basic parental allowance is between EUR 300.00 and EUR 1,800.00 per month. Parental Allowance Plus and the partnership bonus amount to between EUR 150.00 and EUR 900.00.

The following questions also play a role in the amount of parental allowance:

• Do you receive any other state benefits?
• Do you have twins or other multiples?
• Do you already have other small children?

• Application form (varies from state to state)
• Birth certificate with the reference "To apply for parental allowance"

Further documents may be required depending on the individual case. Your employer is obliged to issue you with the required documents.

(Mothers: 12 months before the start of prenatal maternity leave;
Fathers: 12 months before the month of birth)

• Certificates from your health insurance fund for all your maternity benefits
• Certificates from your employer regarding maternity allowance (e.g. copy of earnings certificate from this period)

Employer's certificate of parental leave granted Proof of income from self-employment and employment while you are receiving parental allowance Proof of your previous income

• for self-employed persons: Copy of the tax assessment notice for the previous year/assessment period
• for mixed income: copies of the tax assessment notice from the previous year/assessment period and copies of the wage and salary statements from the year of the tax assessment notice
• for non-self-employed persons: Copies of the wage and salary statements

Mothers and fathers who:

• look after and bring up their children themselves after the birth
• do not work more than 32 hours a week
• live in a household with their children
• have a place of residence or habitual abode in Germany

Parental allowance is granted for the months of the child's life. The month of life begins on the day of birth and ends the following month on the day before the birthday.

Parental allowance is also paid for adopted children or children adopted with the aim of adoption. Instead of the date of birth, the start of entitlement is based on the date on which the child is taken into the household. The maximum entitlement is up to the child's 8th birthday.

Trainees and students also receive parental allowance. The respective training does not have to be interrupted.

Entitlement to parental allowance is excluded if the statutory income limit is exceeded. Single parents who had a taxable income of more than 250,000 euros in the last calendar year before the birth of their child are not entitled to parental allowance. Couples are not entitled to parental allowance if they had a joint taxable income of more than 300,000 euros in the calendar year prior to the birth of the child. For births from April 1, 2024, this limit has been reduced to 200,000 euros for both couples and single parents and to 175,000 euros taxable income for births from April 1, 2025.

There are no costs.

To receive parental allowance, you must submit a written or digital application to your parental allowance office.

Online application:
You can submit the application using the (free) online application form.

Online application for parental allowance

The necessary queries are individually tailored to your details in the online portal. The signature requirement does not apply to online applications either. An electronic signature is possible using an e-ID. The supporting documents required for processing the application can be uploaded in the online application, regardless of the signature form. Alternatively, both a print version of the online application and a print service are available.

Written application:
You can also submit your application and other documents in paper form to your parental allowance office. The current paper application form for Hesse is available on the "Familienatlas" website, the portal for families in Hesse.

Family Atlas

Please enclose the documents and evidence requested in the application and sign the application. With the exception of single parents, the signature of both parents is required.
Submit the application documents in person or by post to your parental allowance office.

Notify us of any changes:
If there are any changes during the months of entitlement (for example, because you have increased or reduced your weekly working hours), you must inform the relevant parental allowance office. They will decide whether you are still entitled to parental allowance or whether you have to pay back part of it.

You can obtain information from your local parental allowance office.

You can only apply for parental allowance after the birth of your child.

If possible, you should submit the application within the first 3 months of your child's life. This is because parental allowance is paid retroactively for a maximum of 3 months.

• Parental allowance approval
• Parental allowance is a support benefit for parents after the birth of a child. Parental allowance replaces part of the lost income if you want to be there for your child after the birth and interrupt or limit your professional work.
• You can apply for parental allowance if you
  • have your place of residence or habitual abode in Germany,
  • live in a household with your child and look after and bring up the child yourself,
  • have no or no full-time employment (max. 32 hours per week) after the birth,
  • had a taxable income of no more than 250,000 euros in the last completed assessment period (single parents). For couples, the statutory income limit is 300,000 euros. For births from April 1, 2024, this limit has been reduced to 200,000 euros for both couples and single parents and to 175,000 euros taxable income for births from April 1, 2025.
• Responsible: You must apply for parental allowance at the parental allowance office of the Hessian Office for Care and Social Affairs in whose area of responsibility the child is resident or habitually resident at the time of the first application.

You must apply for parental allowance in writing to the parental allowance office of the Hessian Office for Care and Social Affairs in whose area your child is resident or habitually resident at the time of the first application.

You can submit the application using the (free) online application form.

The necessary queries are individually tailored to your details in the online portal. The signature requirement does not apply to online applications either. An electronic signature is possible via e-ID. The supporting documents required for processing the application can be uploaded in the online application, regardless of the signature form. Alternatively, both a print version of the online application and a print service are available.

The current paper application form for Hesse is available on the "Familienatlas" website, the portal for families in Hesse.