Overview
- The Federal Constitutional Court held that pension payouts continued privately after employment are not automatically employer-linked benefits, limiting health and long-term care contributions and requiring case-by-case reviews, while an NRW higher social court affirmed full contribution liability where an employer link persists.
- New 2026 thresholds are in force, lifting the monthly contribution ceilings to €8,450 for pension/unemployment insurance and €5,812.50 for health/long-term care, which increases deductions for many higher earners without any change in gross pay.
- The Midijob lower bound rose to €603.01 and the calculation factor was adjusted, a change that often leaves topping-up households with little or no overall gain because Bürgergeld typically falls as net wages rise.
- The government is circulating a draft to replace Bürgergeld with a Grundsicherungsgeld that would require able-bodied, childless recipients to take full-time work, though the proposal remains under negotiation and is not enacted.
- Care benefits see no automatic increase in 2026, the 2025 rates continue, and talks on a new Familienpflegegeld and reports of a possible removal of Pflegegrad 1 are ongoing without decisions.