Status: 01/19/2023 11:29 am
In the year 2025 the child benefit should be over – and instead the basic child security should come. The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs has now published the key points of what the basic security should look like in concrete terms.
Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus has presented the cornerstones for the planned basic child security, which should take effect from 2025. A spokesman for the ministry confirmed that the plans had been sent to other ministries for approval. The “Wirtschaftswoche” reported about it first.
In the paper, basic child security is described as “one of the central family and social policy requirements of the federal government in this legislative period”. With it, “not only the performance level” of the financial aid should be increased, “but also more families and their children with support needs” should be reached.
Guarantee amount plus additional contribution
The planned basic child security should therefore consist of two parts: on the one hand, a guarantee amount that is to be paid out independently of the parents’ income and in the same amount for each child. This component is intended to replace the current child benefit. On the other hand, the future basic security should include an age-based additional contribution – this includes the amount of income.
As the newspaper report goes on to say, the planned guarantee amount should be paid out at least in the amount of the then applicable child benefit – currently that would mean an amount of 250 euros. Current benefits such as child tax allowances, basic security benefits for job seekers, social assistance for children and benefits based on the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act should also be included. If adult children move out from their parents, the guarantee amount should be paid directly to them.
Around 2.8 million children and young people in Germany are currently living on state subsistence benefits, 1.6 million of them despite their parents being employed, according to the AFP news agency. This affects about every fifth child.
It should be clearer and less complicated
With the basic child security, Paus also wants to change the “previous debt of the citizens” into a “duty of the state”. Which means that in the future it should be much less bureaucratic and easier to get an overview of possible financial benefits and to apply for them. A simple income check, the bundling of various socio-political services and a digital design of the application and approval process should make it easier to “claim” basic security.
In order for the basic security to come into force as planned in 2025, a corresponding draft law should be available in the autumn. The necessary legislative procedure should start after this year’s summer break.