Child benefit is an important support for many families. But not all parents from non-EU countries receive the benefit. Have some of them been unfairly disadvantaged for years?
The Federal Constitutional Court is now ruling on child benefit for non-EU foreigners. It is about a partial regulation that has since been changed for people who have been admitted to Germany for reasons of international law, humanitarian or political reasons. You were only entitled to child benefit after you had been in Germany for at least three years.
The second requirement was integration into the labor market. In 2012, the Karlsruhe judges had already declared an identical regulation for child-raising and later parental allowance to be null and void. Those affected would be disadvantaged in an unconstitutional way, it was said at the time.
Regulation has been adjusted several times
The child benefit procedure goes back to the Lower Saxony Finance Court, which considers the regulation applicable from 2006 to 2020 to be unconstitutional. The templates have been pending since 2014. The decision will be published in writing.
The child benefit is intended to ensure basic care from birth until at least the 18th birthday. There is currently 219 euros per month for the first and second child, 225 euros for the third child and 250 euros for each additional child. For high earners, the alternatively provided tax allowances are often the cheaper option.
Until the end of 1989, all families in Germany received child benefit. Since then there have been several adjustments. Today, the benefit is available to all Germans and all EU foreigners who live and work here. Special regulations apply to people from certain other countries.
Focus on non-EU foreigners
The Karlsruhe proceedings are about the so-called foreigners who are not entitled to freedom of movement. According to the current regulation, they receive child benefit, among other things, if they have an unlimited settlement permit or belong to the indisputably recognized refugees and persons entitled to asylum. There is no child benefit for people who are in Germany for education and training, and – depending on their residence status – for some asylum seekers.
Only on Monday did the European Court of Justice (ECJ) object to the fact that newcomers from other EU countries in Germany received no child benefit in the first three months if they had no domestic income. The Karlsruhe proceedings have nothing to do with this.
Source: Stern
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