Overview
- The cabinet approved the reform package and sent it to the Bundestag for debate and a vote, with the decision circulated in an Umlaufverfahren rather than taken at a public meeting.
- The reform raises the basic Elterngeld floor from €300 to €330 and the cap from €1,800 to €1,900 to increase payouts for low‑ and high‑income parents.
- Each parent would have four reserved months under the new rules and parents would share six flexible months; the reserved months would pay 80% of prior net income up from 65% and the other months would pay 50%.
- Single parents keep the current right to claim up to 14 months of Elterngeld and the government says the higher replacement rate for reserved months is meant to make it more attractive for fathers and partners to take leave.
- The reform is framed as a compromise shaped by fiscal limits and political pushback — it dropped an earlier plan to cut total months to 12 — and is scheduled to take effect on 1 November 2027 if the Bundestag approves it.