Overview
- A Families Ministry draft circulated Thursday keeps the total Elterngeld period at 14 months but reserves four months for each parent and makes six months freely divisible between them.
- The proposal raises the wage‑replacement rate to 80% for each parent’s four reserved months and lowers it to 50% for the other months, while raising the minimum payment to €330 and the cap to €1,900.
- SPD lawmakers and the Paritätischer Gesamtverband welcomed keeping 14 months and urged adding a paid four‑week “Familienstartzeit” for fathers financed by the U2 employer‑contribution scheme.
- Experts, left‑wing politicians and advocacy groups say the reallocation will shrink many mothers’ total payouts in practice and have gathered a large petition that has passed 200,000 signatures.
- The draft is still in intra‑governmental coordination with no start date set and the ministry says the design will still deliver about €500 million in annual savings, though details on calculations and special payments remain unresolved.