Parental allowance: Karin Prien wants to shorten the duration of parental allowance by two months

The duration of the subscription parental allowance According to a draft law by Federal Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien, this is to be shortened from the current 14 months to just twelve months in the future. In order for a couple to receive parental allowance for the full twelve months, mothers and fathers should each have to take at least three months off work. At the same time, according to the minister’s proposal, the minimum amount should be increased from 300 to 330 euros and the maximum amount from 1,800 to 1,900 euros.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs confirmed corresponding information from the portal to the dpa news agency Politico. The bill is still being voted on by departments, she said.

Change in maternity leave

Politico quoted from the template with a view to the distribution of the care months: “In the future, three months will be reserved for each parent. Six additional months can be flexibly divided between the parents. Single parents could therefore receive full parental allowance for up to twelve months.

The draft law also includes an amendment to the Maternity Protection Act, it said. “With the new regulation, bans on working hours will be limited to twelve months after childbirth,” says the draft law. So far, several rules in the Maternity Protection Act apply, as long as mothers breastfeeding their child – for example a ban on working at night or on Sundays and public holidays.

Parental allowance can be given to mothers and fathers apply if you take a break from work after the birth of a child. Currently, it is paid for up to 14 months if each parent provides care for at least two months. The income limit for births from April 1, 2025 is 175,000 euros. In the current year, the federal government is planning around 7.5 billion euros for the service.

Prien has to save

Due to austerity constraints, Prien is expected to save 500 million euros in her budget next year. A few weeks ago she said that she did not want to touch the income limit for parental allowance and was thinking about increasing the minimum and maximum amounts for payment. She already indicated at the time that the benefit could be paid for a shorter period of time and that fathers could be involved more.

In the 2025 coalition agreement, the Union and the SPD had already stipulated: “We are further developing parental allowance by providing more incentives for more partnership, especially more involvement of fathers in sole responsibility. We can achieve this, for example, by increasing wage replacement rates and changing the number and distribution of the months in which parental allowance is received.” It also said: “We want to noticeably increase the income limit as well as the minimum and maximum amount.”