The most important facts about the child benefit income limit at a glance:
- Child benefit is independent of the parents' income.
- The income of the children is not decisive — what counts is the level of education.
- In the child's second education, there are a few additional requirements for continuing to receive child support.
As a reminder, who receives child support?
Child support is financial support for parents to ensure the children's livelihood. If you and your children are taxable in Germany, you get for each of your kids 250€ per month directly to your account.
Of course, this is not unlimited — otherwise even grandparents would still receive child support for their long-grown children. That's why there are a few age limits: You are definitely entitled to child support up to the 18th birthday of your children. What happens afterwards depends primarily on the professional development of your children. However, you will normally receive child support up to your child's 25th birthday at most. You can find out more about the age limits here.
Is there a limit for additional earnings in child support?
In principle, all families are entitled to child benefit — regardless of the parents' income. As a mom or dad, there are therefore no earnings limits for you.
But what about the kids themselves? If your child is working outside of school, is already working or doing an apprenticeship, you are probably asking yourself “How much can my child earn to still receive child support? ”. The answer is pretty simple: It doesn't matter at all. The only thing that is important is your child's level of education. Let's look at the whole thing in detail:
How much can a student earn without losing child support?
If your child is still in school, you don't have to worry about child support — even if your child is a little genius and rakes in their first million even as a teen. But when you have such an enterprising child, child support doesn't really matter anymore anyway, right?
Important: As long as your child is a student, the age doesn't matter — so they can already be over 18. But remember that you must contact the family fund after your child's 18th birthday so that you can continue to receive child support.
Is there a child support earnings limit for students?
Studying can be pretty expensive. Your family could really use the extra financial injection from child support. And that is exactly why you will continue to receive it — even if your child is already of legal age. But not indefinitely. You can find out what age limits there are here.
As a rule, however, child benefit is not enough to cover the extra costs of studying. Many students therefore go to work on the side. Good news: Here, too, there is no income limit for child benefit. In addition to studying, your child can also earn more money than mom, dad, grandma and grandpa combined — it doesn't matter at all for child support.
But beware: This only applies if it is your child's first degree. If your child has completed another course of study or vocational training before, there are special requirements. We'll tell you what they are right away.
How much can an apprentice earn to receive child support?
Trainees usually receive a small trainee salary. This is, of course, completely okay and does not affect the right to child benefit. Even if your child goes to work in addition to education, there are no deductions: The level of income has no effect on child support.
Here, too, it doesn't matter whether your child is already of legal age.
However, it is important whether it is the first or the second training. For example, if your child has already studied before vocational training, you should definitely read on.
Attention: There is an additional child benefit income limit for a second course!
A single training course is often not enough. The bachelor's degree is followed by a master's degree, followed by vocational training, or vice versa: The degree is followed by practical vocational training.
Even though both training courses work towards the same goal, they do not count as a single training course — legally, they are two separate courses. And there are a few special features in terms of child benefit for the second education.
The most important thing first: Even during their second education, your child can earn as much money as they want — there is no maximum limit.
However, there is a maximum limit on the number of working hours per week. During the second education, your child may work a maximum of 20 hours per week. This is therefore equivalent to a normal part-time job.
However, if there is more activity at work, this does not immediately mean that your claim to child support is at risk. This is because the 20 hours per week relate to regular working hours. As long as the additional hours are celebrated again in another month and the monthly average per year is right again, you will continue to receive child benefit.
Important: If you're not sure whether child support might be jeopardized by your child's income, don't wait too long. Just to be on the safe side, ask your Familienkasse gradually and describe your personal situation in detail.
Child benefit additional income limit 2023: What has changed in recent years?
So, let's note: In 2023, your child can earn as much as they want — the income has no effect on the child benefit payment.
It may be something else on your mind — because things looked different a few years ago. Until 2012, there was an income limit of 8,004€ per year for children. Anyone who had children who earned more was no longer fully entitled to child benefit.
However, this limit has been criticized for some time. For students, the income limit was still completely okay — but it was often too low for students. Because when children move into their own apartment to study and have to pay rent, the equivalent of 667€ per month from a part-time job is suddenly not that much anymore.
Today, students are much more relaxed about this — they can also take on very well-paid jobs to finance their studies and still continue to receive child support. It's convenient, isn't it?
Managing your income cleverly: It's easy with the Bling Card
Do you still remember your first self-earned money? It's a cool feeling, isn't it? You almost feel like a little king or queen. However, it is also important to keep track of the money you have earned yourself. After all, even this money isn't endless — even if it looks like a whole lot at first glance. In the Bling app, your kids can easily keep track of things even with their own income, continue to save on their long-awaited savings goal and can track exactly where they spent the money with their Bling Card.
Find out more about the Bling Card here
