Living in Germany: Anger over planned Elterngeld cuts, suing over WiFi and birthday traditions
In this week's roundup, we look at changes to parents' benefits, unsatisfactory classroom wifi, and which songs to sing at a German birthday party.
The German coalition government this week agreed on a draft budget for 2024. But anger is already rising over the planned cuts, particularly when it comes to parental allowance or Elterngeld.
The government, made up of the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats (FDP), wants to halve the shared income limit threshold for couples for eligibility to Elterngeld, which new parents receive when they take time off work after the birth of a child.
The current shared income limit for receiving Elterngeld is €300,000 before tax - but the government is planning to cut this to €150,000.
As The Local has been reporting, 60,000 families could be affected. The decision, which still needs to be debated and voted on in parliament later this year as part of the wider budget, has left many people fuming. In the wake of the news, a petition was launched called “NO to the cancellation of parental allowance”.
At the time of writing on Friday, more than 500,300 signatures had been gathered. The petition describes the proposals as a "slap in the face for all the hard-working couples in Germany".
Family Affairs Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) said the cuts were regrettable but necessary as Germany tries to reign in spending. In Germany, parents who work less or not at all after the birth of their child receive Elterngeld for up to 14 months. This is a different benefit to Mutterschutz, which new mothers who are employees receive for six weeks before the birth and eight weeks after.
The amount of Elterngeld allocated depends on how much the respective parent earned before their child’s birth but is capped at €1,800 per month. There are different limits for single parents.
Tweet of the week
We all know German internet coverage is not going to win any awards. But have you ever thought about bringing the issue to court?
A German dad is suing against Wifi in his kid’s classroom pic.twitter.com/PSmWHqsIay
— James Jackson (@derJamesJackson) July 1, 2023
Where is this?
Photo: DPA/Christian Charisius
Today we’re visiting the northern city of Hamburg, which saw a lot of rain and storms this week. Passers-by carrying umbrellas and bracing against the wind can be seen walking along the promenade at Landungsbrücken in the harbour area. In the background, you can’t miss the striking silhouette of the Elbphilharmonie.
Did you know?
Nowadays many people in Germany sing the English version of “Happy Birthday” when someone’s special day arrives. But at children’s birthday parties, it’s common to keep the traditional German version alive, which is sung to the same tune as its English equivalent:
Zum Geburtstag, viel Glück (All the best for your birthday). These lyrics are basically repeated, with a liebe/lieber (dear), depending on the name of the birthday girl or boy. Another popular song for the Geburtstagskind (birthday child) is Wie schön, dass du geboren bist (How wonderful that you were born).
If it is your birthday, don’t forget that in Germany it’s the tradition for you to bring the special cake or dessert to your workplace or for friends. In many other countries, your friends/colleagues take care of that!
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The German coalition government this week agreed on a draft budget for 2024. But anger is already rising over the planned cuts, particularly when it comes to parental allowance or Elterngeld.
The government, made up of the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats (FDP), wants to halve the shared income limit threshold for couples for eligibility to Elterngeld, which new parents receive when they take time off work after the birth of a child.
The current shared income limit for receiving Elterngeld is €300,000 before tax - but the government is planning to cut this to €150,000.
As The Local has been reporting, 60,000 families could be affected. The decision, which still needs to be debated and voted on in parliament later this year as part of the wider budget, has left many people fuming. In the wake of the news, a petition was launched called “NO to the cancellation of parental allowance”.
At the time of writing on Friday, more than 500,300 signatures had been gathered. The petition describes the proposals as a "slap in the face for all the hard-working couples in Germany".
Family Affairs Minister Lisa Paus (Greens) said the cuts were regrettable but necessary as Germany tries to reign in spending. In Germany, parents who work less or not at all after the birth of their child receive Elterngeld for up to 14 months. This is a different benefit to Mutterschutz, which new mothers who are employees receive for six weeks before the birth and eight weeks after.
The amount of Elterngeld allocated depends on how much the respective parent earned before their child’s birth but is capped at €1,800 per month. There are different limits for single parents.
Tweet of the week
We all know German internet coverage is not going to win any awards. But have you ever thought about bringing the issue to court?
A German dad is suing against Wifi in his kid’s classroom pic.twitter.com/PSmWHqsIay
— James Jackson (@derJamesJackson) July 1, 2023
Where is this?
Photo: DPA/Christian Charisius
Today we’re visiting the northern city of Hamburg, which saw a lot of rain and storms this week. Passers-by carrying umbrellas and bracing against the wind can be seen walking along the promenade at Landungsbrücken in the harbour area. In the background, you can’t miss the striking silhouette of the Elbphilharmonie.
Did you know?
Nowadays many people in Germany sing the English version of “Happy Birthday” when someone’s special day arrives. But at children’s birthday parties, it’s common to keep the traditional German version alive, which is sung to the same tune as its English equivalent:
Zum Geburtstag, viel Glück (All the best for your birthday). These lyrics are basically repeated, with a liebe/lieber (dear), depending on the name of the birthday girl or boy. Another popular song for the Geburtstagskind (birthday child) is Wie schön, dass du geboren bist (How wonderful that you were born).
If it is your birthday, don’t forget that in Germany it’s the tradition for you to bring the special cake or dessert to your workplace or for friends. In many other countries, your friends/colleagues take care of that!
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