Parental allowance: It’s easy to give up – when dad pays

In the last week there has been a flare-up in the media and on social media discussion about the reduction in parental allowance, which is about so much more: namely about a well-to-do group that envies climbers the desire for a better life.

“Only” 60,000 families are said to be affected by the reduction in parental allowance. That doesn’t sound like a lot at first. Then it’s about a total taxable income of 150,000 euros, which in most cases means a gross income of around 180,000 euros. That in turn sounds like a staggering amount of money that some can only dream of.

We’re talking about two people who – if you split it up fairly – earn around 90,000 euros gross annual salary. In most cases, however, this is the standard salary for an employee in a management position (D-Level) in a company or start-up. In such a case, you get around 4000 euros net. Anyone who lives in a major German city and has to pay rent only has half of the 4000 euros left over. Ergo 2000 euros, from which you – if you understand the German pension system – also pay for a private old-age provision.