Judgment on long-term care insurance: Lower contributions for large families

The contribution rates for long-term care insurance must be changed: According to the constitutional court, parents with several children should be relieved more. Nothing needs to be changed in health and pension insurance.

In fact, long-term care insurance needs to be improved again. According to a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court, it is not enough that the childless have had to pay higher contributions since an earlier ruling. Parents with several children would have to be relieved even more by the end of July 2023 at the latest.

The court says that families are disadvantaged even with the second child because they have much more costs depending on the number of children and because at least one parent has to put back work. These disadvantages would not be adequately compensated for in the long-term care insurance system.

First judgment on long-term care insurance as early as 2001

In the case of long-term care insurance, the court had already ruled in 2001 that it was not compatible with the Basic Law for parents to pay the same high contribution rate as childless people – because they made a “generative contribution to the functionality of a pay-as-you-go social security system”. The contribution rates were then adjusted. Since the beginning of this year, that for parents has been 3.05 percent of gross income, and for childless people it has been 3.4 percent.

From the point of view of the judges, however, this does not go far enough: “The same contribution burden on parents regardless of the number of children is not constitutionally justified,” says the court’s statement. The legislature must remedy this disadvantage.

No changes in pension and health insurance

It is different with the pension insurance: Child-rearing periods would already be recognised. And when it comes to health insurance, the legislature has already been very accommodating to parents with several children with the non-contributory family insurance. Since the childless already made a solidary contribution. So nothing has to change in pension and health insurance.

The Federal Social Court had already declared in several judgments that in these two cases no distinctions were made between people with and without children. Several parents defended themselves against these decisions with constitutional complaints, supported by the Family Association of Catholics in the Archdiocese of Freiburg.

File number: 1 BvL 3/18, 1 BvR 717/16 and others