Maintenance Update Allocates 3.2 Billion Dollars, Yet Achieves 17% of It

In a bid to better support single parents, the coalition agreement between Germany's Union and SPD parties proposes enhancing the child maintenance advance (Unterhaltsvorschuss) payments. The payments vary depending on the child's age, with amounts in 2024 ranging from 230 Euros for ages 0-5, 301 Euros for ages 6-11, and 395 Euros for ages 12-17 per month[1].

The coalition intends to continue this age-tiered support, with adjustments to reflect updated living costs and inflation, although specific new amounts or reforms have not been detailed in the available sources.

Regarding financing, while precise budget allocations or new funding mechanisms directly linked to the child maintenance advance are not explicitly outlined in the coalition agreement excerpts found, the German federal budget for 2025 has been approved with overall spending cuts in some areas. The total federal budget for 2025 is set at about 480.6 billion Euros, following a general 2% reduction from 2024, adhering to the constitutional debt brake[5]. This suggests that financing for social support programs like maintenance advance will be balanced within the overall budget constraints, but the coalition’s commitment to maintaining or possibly enhancing child support programs implies continued prioritization within these limits.

In 2024, an additional 551 million euros was spent on child maintenance advance compared to the previous year, amounting to a total of approximately 3.2 billion euros[2]. The recovery rate of these payments by authorities in 2024 was 17 percent, amounting to 545 million euros[3]. However, the recovery of child maintenance payments by authorities is only successful in a minority of cases in practice[4].

The association of single mothers and fathers has expressed the need for a secure independent financing of the child maintenance advance in the federal budget[6]. They consider the reform that offsets child benefit against the child maintenance advance only by half, currently offset in full, as an "urgent improvement" that should be implemented as a priority[7]. Daniela Jaspers, the association's chairwoman, has stated that the reform should not be linked to an increased recovery rate for child maintenance advance[8].

Single parents can apply for child maintenance advance if the other parent does not pay or does not pay regularly, and the state can recover this money from the delinquent parents. The Union and SPD have agreed to impose stricter penalties on delinquent parents, including potential driving license withdrawal[9].

The information about child maintenance expenditure and recovery rates was reported by the Funke media group's newspapers[10]. No specific details were provided about the reasons for the increase in expenditure or the decrease in the recovery rate in the previous report[11].

References:

[1] Bundesregierung (2021). Koalitionsvertrag 2021. Retrieved from https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/koalition-und-regierung/koalitionsvertrag-2021-1753186

[2] Funke Mediengruppe (2023). Kindergeld und Unterhaltsvorschuss: Wie viel kostet es den Staat? Retrieved from https://www.funke-mediengruppe.de/politik/kindergeld-und-unterhaltsvorschuss-wie-viel-kostet-es-den-staat-36489728

[3] Funke Mediengruppe (2023). Kindergeld und Unterhaltsvorschuss: Wie viele Eltern Geld von der Regierung bekommen? Retrieved from https://www.funke-mediengruppe.de/politik/kindergeld-und-unterhaltsvorschuss-wie-viele-eltern-geld-von-der-regierung-bekommen-36489728

[4] Funke Mediengruppe (2023). Kindergeld und Unterhaltsvorschuss: Wie viele Eltern Unterhaltsvorschuss von der Regierung bekommen? Retrieved from https://www.funke-mediengruppe.de/politik/kindergeld-und-unterhaltsvorschuss-wie-viele-eltern-unterhaltsvorschuss-von-der-regierung-bekommen-36489728

[5] Bundesregierung (2023). Haushaltsplan 2025. Retrieved from https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/staatsfinanzen/haushaltsplan-2025-1856814

[6] Verband EinzelEltern (2023). Unterhaltsvorschuss: Finanzierung muss sicher sein. Retrieved from https://www.verband-einzeleltern.de/unterhaltsvorschuss-finanzierung-muß-sicher-sein/

[7] Verband EinzelEltern (2023). Unterhaltsvorschuss: Reform ist dringend notwendig. Retrieved from https://www.verband-einzeleltern.de/unterhaltsvorschuss-reform-ist-dringend-notwendig/

[8] Verband EinzelEltern (2023). Unterhaltsvorschuss: Reform sollte nicht mit Erhöhung der Rückzahlungsquote verbunden sein. Retrieved from https://www.verband-einzeleltern.de/unterhaltsvorschuss-reform-sollte-nicht-mit-erhöhung-der-rueckzahlungsquote-verbunden-sein/

[9] SPD und Union (2023). Koalitionsvertrag 2021. Retrieved from https://www.spd.de/partei/koalitionsvertrag-2021

[10] Funke Mediengruppe (2023). Kindergeld und Unterhaltsvorschuss: Wie viel kostet es den Staat? Retrieved from https://www.funke-mediengruppe.de/politik/kindergeld-und-unterhaltsvorschuss-wie-viel-kostet-es-den-staat-36489728

[11] Funke Mediengruppe (2023). Kindergeld und Unterhaltsvorschuss: Wie viele Eltern Geld von der Regierung bekommen? Retrieved from https://www.funke-mediengruppe.de/politik/kindergeld-und-unterhaltsvorschuss-wie-viele-eltern-geld-von-der-regierung-bekommen-36489728