ElterngeldPlus: Why It Often Pays More

ElterngeldPlus is simple to understand: You get half the monthly Basiselterngeld amount, but for twice as many months.

1 month Basiselterngeld = 2 months ElterngeldPlus

So if your Basiselterngeld would be €1,200/month, your ElterngeldPlus would be €600/month – but for twice as long.

The minimum is €150/month and the maximum is €900/month.

Two big advantages:

1. Time flexibility: ElterngeldPlus can be received until your child turns 32 months (vs only 14 months for Basiselterngeld). This lets you stretch your parental leave much longer.

2. Part-time math: If you earn income while on Elterngeld, your payment gets reduced. With ElterngeldPlus, this reduction is often smaller relative to what you're gaining from working. The result: more total money in your pocket.

Let's say Maria's Basiselterngeld would be €1,500/month with no income. She wants to work 20 hours/week, earning €1,500/month.

With Basiselterngeld: Her payment drops to maybe €500/month due to income offset.

With ElterngeldPlus: She gets €750/month (the half-amount), but it's not reduced as much because of how the calculation works. And she gets it for twice as many months.

Over the same period, ElterngeldPlus often delivers more total euros when combined with part-time work.

You don't have to choose one or the other exclusively. Many families do something like:

• •Mom: 2 months Basiselterngeld (Mutterschutz period, no work) → then 12 months ElterngeldPlus (with part-time work)
• •Dad: 2 months Basiselterngeld (full leave)

The key is matching the type to what you're actually doing: Basiselterngeld when you're home full-time, ElterngeldPlus when you're working part-time.