Familys
Ministry sticks with parental allowance exclusion for high incomes
According to the Family Ministry’s proposal, parental allowance should in future only be paid out to parents who, alone or together, have no more than 150,000 euros in taxable annual income. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
The Family Ministry points out that of all the bad possible options for reducing parental allowance, the least bad option was chosen. It should stay that way.
The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs is sticking with the plan Eliminate parental allowance for high earners. “Our proposal is clear and we are sticking to it,” said a spokesman in Berlin. The attempt was made “not to go over here with a lawn mower”, but rather to make a socially acceptable suggestion.
It’s about the budget financing law introduced by the traffic light government in August, which provides for spending cuts in various areas, including parental allowance. In the future, payments will only be made to parents who, alone or together, have no more than 150,000 euros in taxable annual income. The Bundestag is currently discussing the law.
The Family Ministry, led by the Greens, had spoken of “strict savings targets” from Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). Of all the bad possible reduction options, the least bad option was chosen.
The FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag had now presented an alternative proposal. It provides for unchanged income limits – currently they are 250,000 euros for single parents and 300,000 euros for couples. In addition, couples should generally only receive parental benefit for 12 months instead of up to 14 months as before. The requirement that each parent must claim at least two months of parental allowance in order to utilize the full amount should also be eliminated.