Child benefit amount 2019 - how much is the child benefit?

The child benefit amount 2019 is independent of the parents’ income. The amount of child benefit per month depends only on how many children a family has in total. With an increasing number of children, that also increases Child support amount per child. For the first and second child, parents currently receive EUR 204 child benefit per month. From the third child, the child benefit payment increases then 210 euros per month. For the fourth child and each additional child after that, parents currently receive an amount of € 235 per month from the family fund. The following table provides an overview of the amount of child benefit in 2019. This shows directly how high the child benefit is per child per month.

Number of Children	Child benefit amount 2019
1 child	204 euros
2nd child	204 euros
3rd child	210 euros
4th child	235 euros
Every additional child	235 euros

Sample calculation: A family with four children would receive a total child benefit of EUR 853 (EUR 204 + EUR 204 + EUR 210 + EUR 235) per month in 2019. If the family had not only four but even five children, they would receive a total of child benefit of EUR 1088 (EUR 204 + EUR 204 + EUR 210 + EUR 235 + EUR 235 +235) each month.

How do counting children affect the amount of child benefit?

So-called counting children must always be taken into account when determining the amount of child benefit. One calls counting children Children for which is not paid child benefit, but which has an impact on the amount of child benefit for the other children. First and foremost, separated parents can benefit from the counting children regulation. Suppose a father has a child from his first marriage who lives with his mother and two children with his second wife, both of whom live with him. He then receives no child benefit for the first child, but the mother with whom the child lives.

However, the child is counted as a counting child with the father, so that the two other children are not treated as first and second children, but rather as third and fourth children when calculating child benefit. This means that instead of 408 euros in child benefit every month, he gets 414 euros (204 euros + 210 euros) in child benefit per month. The effect of the counting children would be even greater if the father had two children from their first marriage. Then he would even get 445 euros (210 euros +235 euros) child benefit per month for the two children from a second marriage.

Child benefit increase as of July 1, 2019

As of July 1, 2019, there was a child benefit increase in Germany. The child benefit was then increased by ten euros per child. After the child benefit increase, parents receive 204 euros per month for the first and second child. The child benefit for the third child is set at 210 euros per month. From the fourth child, there is a child benefit of EUR 235 per month. The following table shows how high the child benefit is before and after the child benefit increase:

Number of Children	Child benefit after July 1, 2019	Child benefit before July 1, 2019
1 child	204 euros	194 euros
2nd child	204 euros	194 euros
3rd child	210 euros	200 euros
4th child	235 euros	225 euros
Every additional child	235 euros	225 euros

Child benefit and child allowance in comparison

If there is a child benefit claim, parents have two alternatives. You can receive the amount of child benefit due to you every month or alternatively you can use the child allowance. The child allowance is a tax-free allowance that is deducted from the parents’ taxable income and thereby reduces the tax burden to be paid by the parents. The responsible tax office automatically determines which of these two alternatives is financially more favorable in the course of a so-called cheaper assessment.

While the amount of child benefit depends on the number of children, the child allowance per child is always the same regardless of the total number of children. Parents are entitled to a child allowance of EUR 7,620 per child in 2019. If the parents live separately, each of the two parents is entitled to exactly half of this amount. The child allowance was last raised in 2019. Previously, the child allowance was € 7,428 for both parents.

How long do parents receive child benefit?

The amount of child benefit is determined by the number of children. But how long are parents entitled to child benefit? From the birth of the child until the child turns 18, the parents have a general right to child benefit, without this being linked to other conditions. Child allowance may also apply to children over 18 years of age. In this case, the child benefit entitlement is subject to additional conditions. Parents of an adult child can continue to receive child benefit until the child’s 21st birthday if the child is unemployed and registered with the Federal Employment Agency as a job seeker.

For children who are studying or training, the child benefit claim can even go up to. Extend child’s 25th birthday. But be careful: if the student is completing a second degree or a second course and is also gainfully employed for more than 20 hours per week, the parents’ entitlement to child benefit expires. According to the new legal situation, the child’s income no longer matters. The weekly working time has no influence on the child benefit amount. As long as the limit of 20 working hours per week is not exceeded, the child benefit is always paid in full to the parents despite the child’s income. On the following page we have put together a further exception for child benefit during your studies.

A claim to child benefit beyond the age of 25 can make a living for children with a severe disability, as a result of which the child is unable own Strength to deny. However, the prerequisite is that the child’s disability occurred before the child’s 25th birthday. The age of the child has no influence on the amount of child benefit.

Submit child benefit application – Here’s how

Parents are entitled to child benefit when the child is born, but the family benefits do not automatically pay the money to the parents. First, the parents have to submit a child benefit application. As a rule, parents have to submit this child benefit application to the family benefits office. A different regulation only applies to civil servants and civil servants. In this professional group it is not the family fund, but the salary or salary office of the public service that is responsible for the child benefit application. The application for child benefit must in principle be submitted in writing to the responsible body.

You can get the application form required for the child benefit application either from the local branch of the Familienkasse or you can simply download the application form directly from the official website of the Federal Employment Agency. The application form can also be filled out directly online, but must then be printed, signed and sent to the responsible office by post. A purely online application for child benefit is unfortunately not yet possible. If parents submit a child benefit application for the first time after the child is born, you must also provide a child’s birth certificate. Since January 1, 2016, the supplementary regulation also applies that the family fund must be informed of the tax identification number of the applicant and the tax identification number of the child when applying for child benefit.