Parental Allowance Calculator (Elterngeld)

Elterngeld (parental allowance, §2 BEEG) replaces part of the income you lose while caring for your baby. It is paid by your Bundesland’s Elterngeldstelle, not your employer, and it is open to expats on the same terms as Germans as long as you live in Germany and hold a residence title that allows work.

Step 1: your Elterngeld-Netto

The starting point is your average regular gross over the 12 calendar months before birth (for mothers, before Mutterschutz starts). One-off payments such as a bonus or 13th salary are left out (§2c BEEG). The office then rebuilds your net with standard deductions rather than reading your payslip: income tax with your tax class and the rules of the year before birth, church tax at a flat 8% in every Bundesland, flat social insurance of 9% health and care, 10% pension and 2% unemployment (§2f BEEG), and €102.50 for the Werbungskosten allowance. Privately insured employees skip the 9%, civil servants skip all three.

Step 2: the replacement rate

• 65% of the income you lose if your Elterngeld-Netto was €1,240 or more.
• 67% between €1,000 and €1,200, sliding from 67% to 65% between €1,200 and €1,240.
• Below €1,000 the rate rises by 0.1 percentage points for every full €2 below, up to 100%.
• Only the first €2,770 of Elterngeld-Netto counts, so Basiselterngeld is between €300 and €1,800 a month.

Basic parental allowance (Basiselterngeld) or Elterngeld Plus

Basiselterngeld pays the full amount for up to 12 months shared between both parents, plus 2 partner months if each parent takes at least two. Elterngeld Plus pays at most half as much per month but for twice as long, and is the better choice if you return to work part-time: income after birth reduces both, but Plus is capped at half of what Basis would be with no income, so part-time earnings eat into it far less. You can work up to 32 hours a week while claiming either.

The Partnerschaftsbonus adds 2 to 4 extra Plus months for each parent when you both work 24 to 32 hours a week at the same time. A Geschwisterbonus adds 10% (at least €75) if another child under 3, two under 6, or one under 14 with a disability live with you, and twins or triplets add €300 per extra child.

Timing rules that catch people out

• Months are counted from the child’s birthday, not the calendar. A child born on 12 February has month 1 from 12 February to 11 March.
• Basiselterngeld can only be taken in the first 14 months of life. Mutterschutz months count as Basis months for the mother even though Mutterschaftsgeld, not Elterngeld, is paid for them.
• Elterngeld Plus and the Partnerschaftsbonus can run until month 32. From month 15 you cannot pause: if neither parent claims in a month, the remaining months are lost.
• Both parents can take Basiselterngeld in the same month only once, within the first 12 months. Twins, premature births, disability and the sibling bonus are exceptions (§4 Abs. 6 BEEG). Elterngeld Plus can overlap freely.
• Premature babies add Basis months: 1 month if born 6 weeks early, 2 at 8 weeks, 3 at 12 weeks, 4 at 16 weeks.
• If you already have an older child, the months you received Elterngeld for that child (in its first 14) are skipped when your 12-month income window is set, so they do not drag your amount down.

The income limit and Kindergeld

For births since 1 April 2025 there is no Elterngeld at all if your taxable income (zu versteuerndes Einkommen, both parents together) in the last tax year before birth was above €175,000 (§1 Abs. 8 BEEG). That figure comes from your tax assessment and is well below gross salary. Kindergeld is separate: it is paid per child regardless of income, from the Familienkasse rather than the Elterngeldstelle.

Your tax class before birth matters here, because a better class raises your Elterngeld-Netto. Our tax class calculator explains when a switch still counts.

Sources: §§1, 2, 2a, 2c, 2e, 2f, 4, 4a, 4b BEEG (gesetze-im-internet.de), §66 EStG for Kindergeld; the Familienportal des Bundes FAQ on Elterngeld and the BMFSFJ brochure “Parental Allowance and Parental Leave” (English); results cross-checked against the engine of the official Elterngeldrechner. This estimate assumes no Kinderfreibeträge on your tax card, a single employment and no self-employed income.