Relatives relief act - less burden for parents requiring childcare

In the future, children of parents in need of care will only be involved in home care from an annual income of € 100,000. The municipalities fear that they will remain at a large part of the costs.

By Manfred Götzke

Hear our contributions in the Dlf Audiothek

more on the subject

Relieve relatives during care "I see great acceptance in society"

Ines Verspohl from the VDK social association knows well the concerns of children whose parents are in the nursing home. Relatives repeatedly come to their association for advice after a letter from the municipality was in the box. With a request from the social welfare office: how much money do you have available?

"They come to the counseling centers with us, have this request from the social welfare office and now have to disclose everything; The big fear is then of course: do I have to sell my house, can my children still study, how much do I have to pay now? All of this leads to disputes between siblings and tensions with the parents."

Fear of financial overload

If those in need of long-term care cannot or do not have the personal contribution to care for their home because the pension is insufficient and the assets have been used up, the social welfare office of the respective municipality will initially cover the costs. She can then get the money back from the children. In any case, if they are more than a certain sum each month "adjusted net income" have available. That is currently at least 1,800 euros per month for a single person.

It is calculated like this: income minus certain items. But what can be deducted has always been controversial, says Verspohl: "It was really up to the municipality. There were municipalities that didn’t ask and there were municipalities that really asked everyone. And then the question was always: what can I sell? So, I can already deduct something from my income, for example maintenance for my own children, payments for the house, my own pension. And what was recognized and what was not, was always very, very controversial, and so far there have always been different values between the municipalities."

Uncertainty, uncertainty, fear of excessive financial demands – all of this is now to be changed by the new law. And that’s a good thing, says Verspohl, the department at the VDK social policy passes.

"Because the principle of social insurance as we have it in Germany should be that you are covered by social security. And that it doesn’t matter how many children you have and whether you have well-earning children. That is why we have pension insurance and that is why we have long-term care insurance."

According to the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, around 275,000 relatives will be relieved from January 1, 2020. Because then a simple rule applies: Only if relatives earn more than 100,000 euros gross per year – including rental income or income from capital gains – will the cities be able to recover the costs from their relatives in the future. 90 Percent of children Relief for parents in need of care.

Municipalities remain at a large part of the costs

Conversely, relieving the burden on relatives means that the municipalities remain at a large part of the costs. And that’s a problem, says Helmut Dedy, general manager of the German Association of Cities.

"The coalition once said in the coalition agreement who paid for the order. And that actually means translated: if we do something as a federal government, we have to stand up for it in terms of fiscal policy. The federal government does not, however, but relieves the relatives and burdens the cities. As a result, we have less recourse. With the help of care in advance we can get it back – and we can do that to a lesser extent."

The number of people in need of care is increasing

The reform will cost municipalities 500 million euros a year, Dedy predicts. Ascending trend: "We know that the cost of care is increasing and we have known since the Prognos survey that the number of people in need of care will increase significantly. So it is relatively clear that the curve rises."

Also because the law will change the behavior of those in need of care, Dedy says.

"Of course, I can be more willing to take up a place in the home or care services if I know that I don’t have to burden my relatives. These changes in behavior will also be reflected again, so that in future we will see an additional burden on cities of one billion each year count."

The federal government wants to evaluate how much the reform will actually cost the municipalities, but only in 2025. Basically, the law can only be a first step towards a far-reaching reform of care financing, Dedy and Ines Verspohl agree.

Dedy: "The key questions are: where does the money come from, what is possible in terms of nursing care insurance contributions and where must the tax subsidy be used, if applicable."

Verspohl: "You would have to start from scratch and get away from this partial cost principle. You would have to set up the nursing care insurance again and create a full nursing care insurance."

Politics is not that far. But first of all, the new law takes some of the worries away from the children of dependent parents and also means that old people no longer have to worry about burdening their children with home care.