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Sunday, September 06, 2020
In September the time has come: the Corona child voucher is in the account. Family funds gradually pay the state premium to parents in Germany. The government speaks of 300 euros per child. But not everyone receives the full amount.
Starting this Monday, the parents of some 18 million children in Germany will receive an extra 300 euros. The Union and the SPD decided on this child bond in June with their economic stimulus package. It is one of the means that the government is using to mitigate the consequences of the crisis in the crown. Why not everyone benefits from the full amount and why business-oriented researchers find the bonus good:
How does the money get to the parents?
Starting September 7, the family benefits office will begin to pay. In September, 200 euros will be paid initially and in October another 100 euros. It is not necessary to apply for the child allowance; It pays automatically. Prerequisite: A child must have received child benefit for at least one month in 2020. The child allowance is not paid together with the child benefit, but as a separate payment. When the actual payment is made depends on the last digit of the child benefit number. If that’s a zero, you belong to the first, the rest gradually follow.
What if a child is not born until December, for example?
Then there is also the child bonus. The payment is also made if there is no longer any right to child benefit in September, for example because the child completed her education in July. If you are not entitled to child benefit in September, but for other months of 2020, the bonus can be paid later.
What do parents want to do with the child allowance?
61 percent of beneficiaries want to spend the voucher in whole or in part, as shown by a survey commissioned by the Institut der Deutschen Wirtschaft (IW). 24 percent of those surveyed say they will spend the child voucher in full. 37 percent want to do this partially. 39 percent want to save the child allowance entirely. In the highest income group, 45 percent have no plans to spend the money, in the middle only 34 percent. At the lowest, 39 percent want to save it first.
Can high-income parents keep the bonus in full as well?
No. It is offset by the child tax allowance, as well as the child benefit. The higher the income, the lower it will be, depending on income level and family constellation. Eight out of ten eligible families should fully benefit, for example, a couple with three children with an annual income of up to about € 67,800. If you have a higher income, there is less left, from 106,000 euros nothing more. In the case of married parents with one child, ultimately, nothing remains of the bonus of an annual income of EUR 86,000. The bonus is not offset by Hartz IV or up-front maintenance payments, payments continue normally.
Is there always 300 euros more for single-parent families?
No. The single parent who receives the child benefit also receives the bonus. But if the other parent pays child support, you can deduct half of the bonus. The Association of Single Mothers and Parents criticizes that. Many single parents should have brought homeschooling and home office under one roof and were concerned about its existence, says President Daniela Jaspers. “The child bond is necessary where the child has its center of life.”
Are there any other criticisms of the child bond?
Yes. “The child allowance is not very targeted and also benefits families that are not financially dependent on it,” complains Katharina Spieß, an expert on families from the German Institute for Economic Research. For others, it is not enough. The sum of one billion for the bonus is only used once.
What is praised of the child allowance from the economic point of view?
According to the IW business institute, around 2.3 billion of the 4.3 billion euros that the child allowance costs to the state should end up in companies. Because on average for all recipients, about 128 euros per child flow quickly to consumption, the experts have calculated from their survey. The IW says the bonus could support economic recovery. According to the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation, the value-added tax, which was also lowered with the economic stimulus package, has only a manageable effect on consumption and the economy. A higher child premium or a lower work benefit would have had greater effects.
Is the child bond really a new idea?
No. Review of the financial and economic crisis more than ten years ago: On Sunday, January 4, 2009, the SPD made a surprising push in favor of a stimulus package of 40,000 million euros. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, then vice chancellor and candidate for chancellor of the SPD, presented the plans to Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) a day before a meeting of the maximum coalition in the chancellery. Included in the plans: a children’s voucher of 200 euros. With the Union initially skeptical, the SPD then agreed to 100 euros per child. These were paid nationally between April and June 2009.
