Guide · 2026
With your first employment or apprenticeship contract you become a member of the social insurance system in your own right, pay tax and often lose cover through your family. This guide shows what happens automatically, which contribution rates apply in 2026 and what to review in your first weeks.
As soon as you are in paid work, your employer registers you for social insurance and deducts contributions and income tax from your gross pay. Some things you still do yourself.
When your employer registers you for the first time, the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) assigns your insurance number and usually sends you proof of it (Versicherungsnummernachweis, formerly the social insurance card) automatically and free of charge. Check your name and date of birth: only correct data ensures your contributions are credited properly to your pension. The number stays the same for life.
As an employee you are usually subject to compulsory statutory health insurance and choose your fund (Krankenkasse) yourself. Tell your employer your choice within two weeks of starting work (§ 175(3) SGB V) – otherwise your employer will register you. Funds differ mainly in their additional contribution (Zusatzbeitrag); you are usually tied to your choice for twelve months. You can only take out private health insurance with an annual salary above €77,400 (2026).
Children are covered free of charge through their parents' statutory health insurance – depending on their situation up to age 18, up to 23 or, while at school, university or in unpaid training, up to 25. With a paid apprenticeship or job you become a member yourself. Anyone who regularly earns more than €565 a month (2026; €603 in a mini-job) also needs their own cover.
If you fall ill, your employer continues your salary for up to six weeks – but only after four weeks of employment. Before then and afterwards, your fund pays sickness benefit (Krankengeld): 70% of gross pay, at most 90% of net pay. Statutory accident insurance, paid for entirely by your employer, covers accidents at work and on the way to and from work as well as occupational diseases – but not accidents in your free time.
Your employer needs your tax identification number (Steuer-ID), your date of birth and whether this is your main job or a second job. The Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) sends the tax ID by post after you first register your address. Single people are in tax class I. If the tax ID is still missing after three months, the unfavourable tax class VI applies.
Employers and employees usually share contributions equally, calculated up to the contribution assessment ceiling (Beitragsbemessungsgrenze): in 2026, €5,812.50 a month for health and long-term care insurance and €8,450 a month for pension and unemployment insurance.
Your employer deducts income tax (Lohnsteuer) every month; you reclaim any overpaid tax with a tax return.
Once you have your own income, cover through your parents often ends. What matters are the risks that would overwhelm you financially.
Unmarried children are usually only covered by their parents' liability policy during their first uninterrupted course of education or training – a master's straight after a bachelor's generally counts. At the latest when your training ends or you marry, you need your own policy; the details depend on your parents' policy. The Verbraucherzentrale considers it essential and recommends cover of at least €10 million.
A statutory reduced earning capacity pension (Erwerbsminderungsrente) normally requires five years of insurance. Exceptions apply after accidents at work or occupational diseases and if you fully lose your earning capacity within six years of leaving school or training, provided you paid compulsory contributions for at least one year in the two years before losing your earning capacity. Moreover, all that counts is whether you can still do any job for three or six hours a day – not your own profession. Private cover (BU) closes this gap, usually on better terms if taken out young and healthy.
It pays a pension if you permanently lose certain abilities such as seeing, walking, lifting or driving – regardless of your job. The health assessment is often less strict, so it can be an alternative if occupational disability insurance is unavailable or only available on poor terms. However, many policies barely cover mental illness, a common cause of occupational disability.
During your training, a room in a shared flat or student residence is often still covered by your parents' household contents policy, usually up to around 10% of the sum insured. With your own flat this cover ends; your own policy is worthwhile if you could not replace your furniture, clothes and electronics yourself after a fire or burglary.
Statutory health insurance pays only to a limited extent abroad and never for repatriation to Germany. Whether you are still covered by your parents' family policy depends on your age and the contract. When travelling to your country of origin, check that your policy applies there: some exclude countries whose citizenship you hold.
These policies are usually not a priority when you start work:
The Verbraucherzentrale advises: first pay off debts and cover major risks, then build a reserve, and only then invest for the long term.
Some groups are subject to their own rules:
Sorted by urgency – skip what does not apply to you.
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.
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Yes, if you are covered by statutory health insurance – within two weeks of starting work, otherwise your employer will register you. You can usually switch after twelve months, or earlier if your fund raises its additional contribution.
Usually only during your first uninterrupted course of training or your first degree, and only while you are unmarried. If you go to university after completing an apprenticeship, you often need your own policy.
Childless employees aged 23 and over pay a surcharge of 0.6 percentage points on their own; your share is then 2.4% instead of 1.8%. If you have children, provide proof; from the second child under 25, the contribution falls further.
Often, yes – especially if you did not work the whole year or your work-related expenses exceed €1,230. In tax class I it is usually voluntary; you have four years and can file it free of charge via ELSTER.
It is not compulsory. But because statutory cover has gaps at first and premiums and acceptance depend on age and health, it is worth checking early. What matters is a term until retirement age and a benefit of around 80% of net income – the Verbraucherzentrale's guideline.
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