Family: Child supplement: 1.5 million children will probably get nothing

According to the federal government, the child supplement only reaches about every third eligible child. This emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs to a request from the left-wing faction in the Bundestag, which is available to the German Press Agency.

Accordingly, the benefit was paid out in December for almost 800,000 children. The ministry estimates that that is around 35 percent of eligible children. It is added that “however, there are no surveys and no reliable and reliable estimates” on the number of cases that do not exercise their claims.

“1.5 million children who have a claim will get nothing and remain in hidden poverty,” said Heidi Reichinnek, spokeswoman for children and young people for the left-wing faction. In a rich country like Germany, that’s a scandal. She called for access to the child supplement, like during Corona, to be made easier through a simplified income check, to improve advice “and to bang the advertising drum properly”.

The child supplement is intended for families with very low incomes, but who do not receive citizen benefits. From 600 euros gross for single parents and 900 euros for couples, the benefit can be applied for in addition to child benefit and amounts to a maximum of 250 euros per child per month – the higher the income, the less. Many families do not even know that they are entitled to it. The Ministry of Family Affairs had repeatedly pointed out this problem. The traffic light plans to combine the child allowance and other state benefits for children in the so-called basic child security.