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Legal regulations

Maternity Allowance

Maternity Allowance /Sick, holiday & maternity leave in Germany

If you are having a baby in Germany, you may qualify for Mutterschaftsgeld or Maternity Allowance. Mutterschaftsgeld is a financial service paid by the Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, the German State Health Insurance. It is financial support provided to pregnant women, 6 weeks prior and 8 weeks following delivery, in what is referred to as the mandatory Mutterschutzfrist.

Who qualifies?

Pregnant women that qualify are Pflichtversichert, Compulsory Insured and employed. Housewives and self-employed persons without Krankengeldanspruch, Entitlements to Sick Leave Benefits, do not qualify.

How to apply?

The earliest one can apply is 7 weeks before the expected delivery date, which is officially documented by your doctor in what is called, "Bescheinigung über den mutmasslichen Tag der Entbindung", Certificate of Expected Date of Delivery, (Yellow Form). This form is then taken to your health care provider where a copy will be made for your files. You will also have to complete an application at this time, of which your health insurance agent will assist you with.

Entitlements

The Mutterschaftsgeld, (maternity allowance) amount will vary from case to case as it is based on existing employment pay. The calculation is based on an average net amount of the applicant's last three, complete, monthly paychecks or the last 13 weeks of pay before the Maternity Protection Period started and divided by total days for period being measured. The maximum daily payment issued from the State Health Insurers is capped at 13 EURO per day. If the net amount of salary is higher than this, the employer is obligated by federal law to pay the difference, which is known as the Arbeitgeberzuschuss.

Women insured through a private health insurance company, as well as women working Mini-Jobs without health insurance and Familienversicherte, Insured Family Members receive a maximum one-time payment of 210 EURO. The responsible authority for such cases is the Bundesversicherungsamt, Mutterschaftsgeldstelle, German Insurance Office, Maternity Allowance department.

If you are an unemployed, expecting mother that received unemployment benefits at the time the Maternity Protection Period started, you should be eligible for Maternity Allowance payments too. The amount of payment is usually equal to your unemployment benefits, but the responsibility of payment falls on your Health Insurer and not your local Unemployment Office, Agentur für Arbeit. Contact your Health Insurance Company and your assigned agent at your local Unemployment Office in such cases.

Maternity benefit in Germany (Mutterschaftsgeld)

The German social security system provides expectant and nursing mothers with maternity benefit to help make up for lost earnings. Maternity benefit (Mutterschaftsgeld) is received by most women taking a break from working with their statutory maternity leave (six weeks before and at least eight weeks after childbirth).

Whether you are eligible for maternity benefit, as well as the possible amount you would potentially receive, depends on the type and scope of the health insurance you have, and how much you earned before you went on maternity leave.

Requirements for maternity benefit

Maternity pay is intended to compensate working mothers for loss of earnings during their maternity period. Therefore, you only qualify if you will lose your salary during your maternity period (if you lose your job while on maternity leave, you also qualify). Additionally, in order to be eligible for maternity benefits, you must fulfil one of the following criteria:

How much maternity benefit will I receive?

The amount of maternity benefit you receive depends on what type of employment you are in, the type of health insurance cover you have, as well as your earnings in the three months before you went on maternity leave:

Maternity benefit from statutory health insurance

If you are covered by statutory health insurance you will receive maternity benefit based on your average earnings from employment in the last three months that you received full pay. The maximum amount you can receive is 13 euros per day. This is then “topped up” by your employer (see below).

Maternity benefit from Federal Insurance Office

If you are an employee but not a member of a statutory health insurance scheme (i.e. if you have private health insurance or are co-insured as a family member of another statutory health insurance policy holder), you may be entitled to receive maternity benefit from the Federal Insurance Office, in a lump sum of up to 210 euros.

Employer’s maternity benefit top-up payment (Arbeitgeberzuschuss)

If your average take-home pay before you went on maternity leave exceeded 13 euros per day (or 390 euros per month), your employer is legally obliged to make up the difference. This is paid to you as a monthly “top-up” payment for the duration of your statutory maternity leave.

How to apply for maternity benefit

You can apply for maternity benefit seven weeks before your due date, at the earliest. You will need a certificate from your doctor confirming your expected delivery date (Bescheinigung über den mutmaßlichen Tag der Entbindung). You can present this to your statutory health insurance provider and fill out an application form. Once your application has been processed, you will receive a confirmation in the post.

If you are not covered by statutory health insurance you will need to submit an application to the maternity benefits section (Mutterschaftsgeldstelle) of the Federal Insurance Office in Bonn.

Parental allowance (Elterngeld)

To provide new parents with even more financial support, the German government also offers a parental allowance (Elterngeld) scheme that compensates mothers and fathers for their loss of earnings for up to 24 months.

Child benefits (Kindergeld)

Becoming a parent entitles you to several other benefits in Germany: as long as your child is dependent on you, you can receive financial support from the German government in the form of child benefits (Kindergeld). This includes tax-free allowances, supplementary allowances and maintenance payments for parents. 

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