Guide · 2026
A child brings new entitlements – and new deadlines. If you arrange parental allowance, child benefit or your child's health insurance too late, you can lose money or options. Here you will find the amounts and rules for 2026, the insurance that matters and a checklist for the first weeks.
The Maternity Protection Act (Mutterschutzgesetz) applies to employees, including mini-jobbers and trainees. It does not cover the self-employed.
Protection starts six weeks before the expected due date and usually ends eight weeks after the birth. Before the birth you may work voluntarily; afterwards, working is strictly prohibited. For medically premature births, multiple births and – on application – if the child has a disability, it lasts twelve weeks after the birth. If the baby arrives early, the lost days are added afterwards.
Employees with statutory health insurance receive up to €13 a day from their health insurance fund during the protection periods; the employer pays the difference to their average net pay over the last three months. Employees who are privately insured or family-insured receive a total of up to €210 from the Federal Office for Social Security (Bundesamt für Soziale Sicherung), plus the employer top-up. Apply with the medical certificate stating the expected date of delivery.
From the start of pregnancy until at least four months after the birth, dismissal is generally not allowed – exceptions need the supervisory authority's approval. If your employer did not know about the pregnancy, you can inform them up to two weeks after receiving notice; the protection then still applies.
Since 1 June 2025, maternity protection also applies after a miscarriage: two weeks from the 13th week of pregnancy, six weeks from the 17th week and eight weeks from the 20th week. You can expressly declare that you want to keep working. The four-month protection against dismissal applies after a miscarriage after the twelfth week of pregnancy.
Most benefits are only paid on application, each with its own deadline.
In 2026 the family benefits office (Familienkasse) of the Federal Employment Agency pays €259 per child per month. In the application you state your tax ID and your child's; with a BundID account you can apply online without a signature. It is paid back for at most six months. From 2027, child benefit is to be paid in many cases without an application, introduced in stages (passed in September 2026); until then, you must apply.
Instead of child benefit, a tax allowance may be worth more. In 2026 the child allowance and the allowance for care, upbringing or education together amount to €9,756 per child for jointly assessed parents (€6,828 plus €2,928). The tax office automatically checks which is better (Günstigerprüfung) if you file the Anlage Kind for each child. This usually only pays off on higher incomes.
Parental allowance (Elterngeld) usually replaces 65 to 67% of your net income before the birth, and up to 100% below €1,000 net. Basic parental allowance (Basiselterngeld) is €300 to €1,800 a month, ElterngeldPlus €150 to €900 – but paid for twice as long. Parents without income also receive the minimum. Elterngeld is tax-free but raises your tax rate through the progression clause (Progressionsvorbehalt); filing a tax return becomes compulsory.
Couples share up to 14 months of basic parental allowance, one parent at most twelve. Both can usually receive it at the same time for only one month in the child's first year. If both work 24 to 32 hours a week, each receives two to four extra months of ElterngeldPlus as a partnership bonus (Partnerschaftsbonus). For births from 1 April 2025, there is no parental allowance if taxable income – for couples, both parents' combined – in the year before the birth exceeded €175,000.
The parental allowance office (Elterngeldstelle) of your federal state is responsible; many states offer online applications via ElterngeldDigital. It is paid back for at most three months of the child's life – so apply within the first three months. Months with maternity benefit count as the mother's basic parental allowance months; ElterngeldPlus or the partnership bonus are then not possible.
Families on low incomes can also apply to the Familienkasse for the child supplement: up to €297 per child per month in 2026. Conditions include gross income of at least €900 (couples) or €600 (single parents). It is granted for six months and never paid retrospectively – and unlike child benefit, it will still require an application from 2027.
Parental leave (Elternzeit) is unpaid; the money comes from parental allowance. Your employer does not have to agree, but you must give notice in time.
A newborn needs health insurance from day one. What matters is how the parents are insured – and whether they are married.
Your child is then usually covered free of charge by family insurance (Familienversicherung, § 10 SGB V): up to 18, up to 23 if not working, up to 25 at school, in training or at university. This is not automatic – register your child with your health insurance fund using the birth certificate. Later, the child's own income may not exceed €565 a month in 2026, or €603 for a mini-job.
If the parents are married or in a registered partnership, the child cannot be family-insured if the privately insured parent regularly earns more than €6,450 a month in 2026 (€77,400 a year, the compulsory insurance threshold) and more than the statutorily insured parent. The child then needs private or voluntary statutory insurance with its own contribution. This does not apply to unmarried parents: the child can be family-insured through the statutorily insured parent.
In private health insurance (PKV), every child needs their own contract and premium; for civil servants, state assistance (Beihilfe) covers part of it. If a parent has been insured with their private insurer for at least three months, that insurer must accept the child retrospectively from birth without a health check, risk surcharges or waiting periods if you register the child within two months of the birth (§ 198 VVG). The cover may not be more extensive than the parent's.
Above all, a child increases one risk: losing the family income.
Under a family policy, children are usually covered while in their first continuous course of education or training. Children under seven are not liable for damage, and in moving road traffic not until ten (§ 828 BGB). Unless the parents breached their duty of supervision, the injured party then receives nothing – many policies offer extra cover for this, often with a limit. Consumer advocates recommend cover of at least €10 million.
It pays an agreed sum if a parent dies during the term. The statutory half-orphan's pension is only 10% of the deceased's pension and usually requires five years of insurance – a gap especially for newcomers. Unmarried partners receive no widow's or widower's pension. As a rule of thumb, the insurance industry suggests three to five times gross annual salary plus existing obligations.
The consumer advice centre counts it among the important policies for families. The statutory reduced earning capacity pension usually requires five years of insurance and is well below previous net pay. As a guideline for the monthly benefit, the insurance industry suggests 75 to 80% of net income. Premiums and acceptance depend mainly on occupation, age and health.
Children only have statutory accident cover at nursery (Kita) and school and on the way there, not in their free time. Private accident insurance closes this gap but only pays after accidents. Because children become permanently disabled far more often through illness, the consumer advice centre considers child disability insurance (Kinderinvaliditätsversicherung), which also pays in that case, at least as important as occupational disability insurance for the parents.
A nursery, a pram and often a larger home increase the value of your belongings – adjust the sum insured, otherwise you risk underinsurance. Switch single policies to family policies, check the beneficiary of your life insurance and cancel duplicate policies, for example two liability policies after moving in together.
The consumer advice centre (Verbraucherzentrale) advises against some policies marketed for children:
Especially important for unmarried parents:
Sorted by deadline; much of it can be prepared before the birth.
This content provides general orientation. Situations and benefits mentioned are examples; the specific need, policy terms and individual advice are decisive. It does not state a price, acceptance or cover decision.
Contact and content responsibility
Owner and insurance broker authorised under section 34d(1) of the German Trade Regulation Act · Register number D-H3YB-K7WLO-18.
€259 per child per month, applied for at the Familienkasse and paid back for at most six months. With your tax return, the tax office automatically checks whether the child allowances are better.
Within the first three months of your child's life – it is paid back for at most three months, so if you apply later, you lose money. It is best to prepare the application before the birth.
Not automatically: in statutory health insurance your child is usually family-insured free of charge but must be registered. Family insurance is not possible for married parents where the privately insured parent earns more than €6,450 a month and more than the other parent. In private health insurance, your child is insured with their own premium.
Citizens of the EU, the EEA and Switzerland usually can. Others usually need a settlement permit (Niederlassungserlaubnis), an EU Blue Card or a residence permit allowing at least six months of work in Germany. Additional conditions apply to some permits; with a permission to stay during asylum proceedings (Aufenthaltsgestattung) there is no entitlement.
It is voluntary. Your child only has statutory accident cover at nursery, at school and on the way there. The consumer advice centre counts child disability insurance, which also pays after illness, among the most important policies for children.
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