On October 26th,2022, the German association “Verband Kinderreicher Familien Deutschlad (KRFD)” had the opportunity to present their ideas about the parental allowance (“Elterngeld”) with the Ministry of Family Affairs in a virtual meeting via Zoom.
The main topic was how the parental allowance can be improved especially for mothers of large families.
The following three ideas were discussed:
- Increasing the extra amount of the parental allowance for the third or more children from 10 to 25 per cent in order to balance out the opportunity costs which has a high impact on parents of large families.
- Lengthening the period which is considered for this extra amount if there are at least two other smaller children under 10 years of age e.g., living in the same household. Now the extra amount only is paid out until the siblings become three years old.
- Improving the period of time the parent has worked before taking parental leave by extending the basis on which the parental allowance is calculated from 12 months up to 60 months. This would mean that the parents get the same amount of parental allowance for all children when they do not work between the births.
All in all, it is to say that the virtual meeting was conducted in a constructive spirit. The members of KFRD had the possibilities to present their arguments, and the members of the Ministry will now take these ideas to a profound discussion with their experts when reforming the parental allowance. It was a successful step towards a more family-friendly policy in Germany.
