Corona: Changes to parental allowance and BAföG
Lisa Weidner studied German and sociology and completed several journalistic internships. She is a volunteer at Hubert Burda Media Verlag and writes for the "Meine Familie und Ich" magazine and on nutrition and health topics.
More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.
The coronavirus determines politics and everyday life. This can also be felt in the Bundestag: The MPs passed resolutions that should help parents, Bafög recipients and health authorities through the crisis.
Parents should not also have losses in parental allowance in the Corona crisis. The Bundestag in Berlin adopted a corresponding draft law on Thursday - along with other innovations in dealing with the virus and its consequences.
No cutbacks in parental allowance
Because of the Corona crisis, mothers and fathers shouldn't have to accept any compromises in terms of parental allowance. The Bundestag passed a bill by the grand coalition that temporarily changes the calculation basis. Normally, the average net income for the twelve months before the birth is used for the calculation. If someone is earning less because of the crisis, the months in question should not be included so that the parental allowance is not lower.
Anyone who works in so-called system-relevant professions and is therefore unable to take parental leave can also postpone it. The rules for the partnership bonus - an additional benefit that mothers and fathers get who both work part-time in order to share the child rearing - are also relaxed if part-time cannot be observed at the moment. The Federal Council still has to approve the exceptions, they should then apply retrospectively from March 1st.
Parental allowance is paid to mothers and fathers if they do not want to work or only little to work after the birth of the child. The state supports this with a minimum of 300 euros and a maximum of 1800 euros per month - depending on the net earnings before the child is born. Parental allowance is paid in full for a maximum of 14 months if both take part in the care.
BAföG remains high even with higher income
For BAföG recipients, it will be more attractive to help out in systemically relevant professions during the corona pandemic. The Bundestag decided on incentives: Anyone who, in addition to studying and training, took on a job in the health or social sector or in agriculture or increased their working hours there, should not count their income towards the student loan. The student loans paid out should remain high despite this additional income. For scientists, rules on time limits for contracts are also being relaxed so that, for example, research projects that have been delayed due to the current exceptional situation can be continued.
Opposition politicians sharply criticized the Union and SPD law as a "sham solution" and spoke of "failure to provide assistance" for students. The Greens, the FDP and the Left have called for BAföG to be opened up to students who have lost their jobs because of the crisis, regardless of their parents' income, and accused Federal Research Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU) of abandoning those affected. Karliczek wants to help these students with loans from the state development bank KfW. The unions had also sharply criticized this and warned that this offer would rather deter students - for fear of getting into debt.
50 million euros for health authorities
Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn has pledged support for the German health authorities in the fight against the corona epidemic. The public health service is an important pillar in this crisis and should be further strengthened, said the CDU politician in the Bundestag. He referred to the latest federal and state resolutions that tracking the contact persons of infected people and breaking infection chains on site in the municipalities is a very crucial point.
Further support for the health authorities is part of a bill that the grand coalition has now introduced to parliament. The federal government plans to provide a total of around 50 million euros for the 375 health authorities across Germany, primarily in order to advance digitization. A permanent contact point for the public health service with an additional 40 positions is to be set up at the Robert Koch Institute. (lw / dpa)
