Family portal - current news: the strong family law comes into force

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Improvements in the child supplement and for education and participation: Since July 1, families with small incomes have benefited from the Strong Family Act. Dr. Franziska Giffey visited the family fund Berlin-Brandenburg on this occasion.

Dr. Franziska Giffey and Karsten Bunk present, among other things, the improvements in the child supplement at the family fund in Potsdam © BMFSFJ

With the improved child supplement (KiZ), the supplement for child benefit, the first stage of the Strong Family Law came into force on July 1st. Together with improvements in education and participation benefits, the aim is to protect families with small and medium incomes from poverty more effectively and to ensure the subsistence level of every child. A total of four million children can benefit from the law, two million from the reformed child allowance alone – previously 800,000 children were entitled to benefits.

Federal Minister of Family Affairs Dr. Franziska Giffey visited the Familienkasse Berlin-Brandenburg in Potsdam on July 1st, where applications for child supplement and child benefit are processed. Together with the head of the family fund of the Federal Employment Agency, Karsten Bunk, she took part in counseling single parents who would particularly benefit from the first stage of the reform.

Dr. Franziska Giffey:

"We have renewed the child supplement from scratch: We have significantly expanded the group of beneficiaries, increased the maximum amount and made the application process less bureaucratic. It now takes half the time to fill out the form. Next year we also want to give families the digital way to apply for the child supplement. We are working hard on the KiZ Digital. Our Strong Family Law is a big step in securing every child’s livelihood. An initial budget of around 1.5 billion euros is planned for this legislative period. This can – depending on the utilization – increase even further. We want to strengthen parents who go to work and still have little money at their disposal. Work should be worth it, because the best protection against child poverty is still when parents go to work and make do with their income. I am particularly pleased that the application for a child supplement is now also worthwhile for single parents. Because maintenance or maintenance advances will no longer count towards the child supplement. This gives the families who are most at risk of poverty in our country the additional support they need."

Redesign in two steps

With the first stage, the child supplement is increased from 170 euros to 185 euros per month and child and opened to single parents. So far, they have not been supported with the child allowance when they receive maintenance or advance maintenance payments for their children because child income is fully counted towards the child allowance. From now on, child income will only partially reduce the child supplement: 45 percent of the income will count towards the child supplement.

As of January 1, 2020, the group of beneficiaries will be expanded. The upper income limit, the so-called "scarp", falls away. income The parents, that goes beyond their own needs is only 45 percent, instead today 50 percent off the child surcharge.

With these measures, no family suddenly falls out of the child allowance if the parents only earn a little more. They can keep something of their self-generated income so that gainful employment pays off. With extended access, families in covert poverty will also be better reached in future through the child supplement.

Better performance for education and participation

On August 1, 2019, the services for education and participation will also be improved and the application process will be significantly simplified. For example, school supplies increase from EUR 100 to EUR 150 for each school year. Likewise, the monthly sharing benefit for sports clubs or music schools increases from ten euros to 15 euros.

In addition, from August 1, 2019, all parents who receive a child supplement, housing allowance or benefits under SGB II (Second Social Code) will be exempt from childcare fees with the Good Day Care Act.

All services at a glance can be found in the Starke family checkbook.