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Cabinet members Lindner, Paus: Hard cuts also in parental allowance
Photo: Florian Gaertner / Photothek / Getty Images
The austerity budget for 2024 launched by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) also leads to cuts in parental allowance. According to SPIEGEL information, only parents with an annual income of up to 150,000 euros will be entitled to this family policy benefit in the future. Previously, the income limit was 300,000 euros.
Family Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) is thus following guidelines from the Federal Ministry of Finance. According to the report, spending in 2024 is expected to fall by 290 million euros compared to this year to just under eight billion euros. Initially, benefit cuts in parental allowance were also discussed. However, the Paus Ministry was able to avoid this by restricting the circle of beneficiaries. According to SPIEGEL information, the Ministry of Family Affairs regrets that it is forced to make the cuts and warns of negative effects on the federal government's gender equality policy goals.
Currently, couples are allowed to receive child-raising allowance for 14 months. This is a state wage replacement benefit. It secures the income of young parents if they devote themselves to education instead of working in the first months of their offspring's life.
The child-raising allowance is not the only social expenditure affected by the austerity round. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) also has to make cuts in his budget. This affects the federal subsidy to long-term care insurance in the amount of one billion euros. It will be eliminated from next year.
Flo, Rei