The German pension system provides special support for parents who devote themselves to raising children. The state rewards them for their time by crediting them with pension contributions for the first years of each child’s life – as if they had paid contributions themselves.
How the credit works
Parents who raise children receive credit for contributions to the statutory pension insurance scheme and later receive a higher pension for this period. The contributions are paid by the state. This compensates for the fact that mothers or fathers are often only able to work to a limited extent or not at all.
Parents are credited with up to three years of contributions to the statutory pension insurance scheme as “child-raising periods.” This increases their pension.
Duration and amount of the credits
The duration of the pension contribution credit depends on the year of birth of the child:
• For children born after 1992: up to three years per child are credited.
• For children born before 1992: up to 30 months (2.5 years) of child-raising are credited toward the so-called “mothers’ pension.”
During the child-raising period, parents are treated as if they had paid contributions based on the average earnings of all insured persons. Converted, one year of child-raising currently brings 39.32 euros per month in pension benefits (from July 1 this year, 40.79 euros).
For each calendar month of child-rearing, just under one pension point worth €39.32 per year is credited. With a maximum of three years of child-rearing, the monthly pension is increased by almost €118. If several children were raised at the same time, the months of child-rearing are taken into account for all children when calculating the pension.
Division between parents
For parents who raise a child together, the child-raising periods are generally credited to the mother. If the father wants the child-raising period to be credited to him, both parents must submit a joint declaration to the German Pension Insurance Fund in advance. This declaration is only valid for the future and for a maximum of two months retroactively.
Requirements for crediting
In order to receive a mother’s pension later on, the child-raising periods must be recorded with the German Pension Insurance Fund. The child-raising periods are submitted to the pension insurance fund together with the application form V0800. The application for crediting child-raising periods can also be submitted retroactively. However, the pension insurance fund recommends that this be done around the time the child reaches the age of ten.
Additional benefits for parents
The German pension system not only provides for the crediting of three years of child-rearing, but also additional benefits in the form of so-called “child-raising periods.”What this means in practice:
• The first ten years after the birth of a child are credited as child-raising periods.
• During this period, the state does not pay pension contributions, but these years are counted toward the minimum insurance period for old age.
• This period affects the fulfillment of the minimum insurance requirement (known as the “waiting period”).
An example: Anyone who has a child and works in a mini-job is credited with the first 10 years of the child’s life as insurance time, even if their earnings are low. This helps them to achieve the 5 years of insurance time required for pension entitlement.
If someone has several children born within 10 years, the periods are not extended – the maximum remains 10 years from the birth of the first child.
The background: Since July 1, 1998, pension points for child-rearing periods have been taken into account in addition to the pension points acquired through contribution payments in order not to disadvantage working mothers.
See: German Pension Insurance | Raising children is a plus for your pension
and Family portal | Childcare counted toward pension points
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