Elterngeld: Germany's Parental Leave Payment Explained

Elterngeld is Germany's parental allowance, designed to replace part of your income while you take time off work to care for a newborn — and unlike Kindergeld, it's tied to your own earnings before the birth, not a flat amount per child.

The basic version, Basiselterngeld, replaces 65% to 67% of your average net income from the year before the birth (higher percentages kick in for lower earners — up to 100% replacement if your prior net income was under €1,000 a month), within a floor of €300 and a ceiling of €1,800 a month. It's paid for up to 12 months per parent, extendable to 14 if both parents each take at least two months.

ElterngeldPlus works differently: you get roughly half the monthly Basiselterngeld amount (€150 to €900), but you can draw it for up to 28 months instead of 12–14 — and critically, you're allowed to work part-time while receiving it without losing the payment the way Basiselterngeld would penalize part-time earnings. If you're planning to return to work gradually rather than not at all, ElterngeldPlus is usually the better structural fit.

There's also a Partnerschaftsbonus: if both parents work part-time (24 to 32 hours a week) for the same consecutive period, each of you gets an extra 4 months of ElterngeldPlus on top — a deliberate incentive for both parents to share both childcare and part-time work simultaneously, rather than one parent doing all of one and none of the other.

Not everyone qualifies regardless of income: for children born in 2026, the household taxable income cap is €175,000 — for couples and single parents alike — above which there's no Elterngeld entitlement at all, so this is worth checking before you assume it applies to your situation.

Applying happens through your state's Elterngeldstelle, and you'll need your child's birth certificate, proof of income from before the birth, and your Elterngeld application form — increasingly available to submit digitally (ElterngeldDigital) depending on your state. Apply promptly: like Kindergeld, there are limits on how far back payments can be backdated, so delaying the application costs you money, not just time.