Editor in chief at IamExpat Media
With coronavirus last year putting extra pressure on families in Germany, who were forced to juggle the demands of jobs and childcare while stuck at home, the federal government offered support by extending the child sickness benefit scheme. New figures show that the extra help was gladly received.
According to a report by Techniker Krankenkasse (TK), a statutory health insurer in Germany, many parents made use of the extra entitlement to child sickness benefits, after the government extended the scheme for 2020 and 2021.
The figures show that applications for the benefit more than doubled last year, from 353.000 in 2020 to 786.000 in 2021. In 2019, around 501.000 applications were made.
TK said that the jump in applications is most likely explained by the special rules put in place last year that tripled the number of days of child sickness benefit that parents could apply for, from 10 to 30. The rules were also eased to make it possible to apply for the benefit not only if the parent’s child was sick, but also if they had to be cared for at home because of restricted operations at schools and daycare facilities.
The German government currently covers up to 90 percent of the daily salary of publicly-insured workers who have to take time off to look after their child(ren), if their wages are withheld by the employer.