Overview
- An aggregation of official data identifies 3.42 million minors receiving transfers, equal to 24.5% of Germany’s 13.98 million under‑18s.
- Mid‑2025 figures show 1.81 million children living on Bürgergeld and about 1.3 million receiving the child supplement Kinderzuschlag.
- Of the minors on Bürgergeld, 854,000 were not German citizens as of June 2025, with immigration cited in reports as a major driver of need.
- Additional groups include roughly 150,000 in SGB VIII placements, about 136,000 on asylum‑seeker benefits and around 23,000 on basic support, plus 855,700 receiving advance child maintenance with only 17% recouped from liable parents.
- Ifo researchers count 502 federal social benefits, roughly 50 for children, highlighting fragmentation alongside large regional gaps such as 28.2% SGB‑II rates for minors in Bremen versus 7.0% in Bavaria.