Overview
- A government bill in first reading would replace Bürgergeld with a new Grundsicherung from 1 July 2026, including a unified 30% cut for defined breaches and an escalating missed‑appointment path that can end entitlement until contact is reestablished.
- Under the draft’s “three‑times plus one” model, the first missed Jobcenter appointment has no immediate consequence, the second triggers a 30% cut for one month, and the third can lead to a finding of non‑reachability with loss of benefits, with housing costs protected for remaining household members.
- Pension experts caution that a late application only yields retroactive payments of the pension itself, as tax parameters, health‑insurance status and allowances are fixed by the actual start date and can cause irreversible losses.
- The Deutsche Rentenversicherung confirms that contributions paid while drawing an early pension raise benefits at regular retirement age, with the option to waive insurance exemption to keep paying after that point and automatic crediting each 1 July plus a 0.5% monthly bonus for post‑age contributions.
- Wohngeld was last uprated on 1 January 2025 and is recalculated on a two‑year cycle, so no general increase is scheduled for 2026, with roughly 1.2 million households receiving the benefit and disability‑ or care‑related income disregards applying under set rules.