Parental allowance 2024

Parental allowance is also affected by the necessary savings in the federal budget. Two changes are planned for births from April 1, 2024: Firstly, the income limits for couples and single parents will be lowered, and secondly, parents will only be able to receive basic parental allowance for one month at a time. Find out everything you need to know about these changes in this article.

The income threshold above which parents are no longer entitled to parental allowance is currently 300,000 euros for couples and 250,000 euros for single parents. This limit will be lowered for births from April 1, 2024 to a taxable income of 200,000 euros for couples and single parents.

One year later, on April 1, 2025, the limit will be lowered again to a taxable income of 175,000 euros.

Please note that your individual taxable income is always a lot lower than your actual gross salary!

To determine your taxable annual income, you can deduct the following amounts from your gross salary:

The taxable income is therefore always lower than your gross income.

Your individual taxable income is calculated by the tax office. You can find the amount in your tax return.

No, further cuts to parental allowance are not planned. In particular, the minimum and maximum amounts of 300 euros and 1,800 euros respectively remain unchanged.

First of all: In future, you will still be able to increase your basic parental allowance entitlement from 12 months to 14 months if you share the care of your child with your partner.

Until now, you and your partner have been able to claim basic parental allowance at the same time without any restrictions.

This will change for births from April 1, 2024: In future, both parents will only be able to claim basic parental allowance for one month at a time, and only up to the child's 12th month of life. Joint care of the newborn by both parents in the month of birth will therefore remain possible.

If parents wish to receive parental allowance for more than one month at a time, at least one parent must opt for Parental Allowance Plus. This change is intended to promote the equal sharing of care work and employment between the parents.

Examples:

• The mother takes Basic Parental Allowance in the 4th and 5th month of life, the father also takes Basic Parental Allowance in the 4th month of life and 5th month of life -> not permitted because more than one month of Basic Parental Allowance is received jointly.
• The mother receives basic parental allowance in the 4th and 5th month of life, the father receives basic parental allowance in the 4th month of life and the 12th month of life -> permitted because only one month of basic parental allowance is received jointly.
• The mother receives Basic Parental Allowance in the 4th and 5th month of life, the father receives Basic Parental Allowance in the 4th month of life and Parental Allowance Plus in the 5th month of life -> permitted because only one month of Basic Parental Allowance is received jointly.
• The mother receives Basic Parental Allowance in the 4th and 13th month of life, the father receives Basic Parental Allowance in the 13th and 14th month of life -> not permitted because Basic Parental Allowance can no longer be received jointly after the 12th month of life.

However, this change does not apply to premature babies and multiple births. In order to compensate for the special burdens, parents of premature babies and multiple births can continue to receive basic parental allowance at the same time without any restrictions. The same applies to parents of a newborn child who has been diagnosed with a severe disability by a doctor and to parents who already have a severely disabled child who is taken into account for the sibling bonus.

The new regulations lowering the income limit to 200,000 euros and the parallel receipt of basic parental allowance apply to all parents whose child is born on or after April 1, 2024.

The new income limit of 175,000 euros applies to all parents whose child is born on or after April 1, 2025.

The previous regulation applies to parents whose child is born up to and including March 31, 2024.