📝 Basic income support (Grundsicherungsgeld, Bürgergeld) for single parents
In brief
Basic income support (Grundsicherungsgeld, called "Bürgergeld" until 30 June 2026) secures your livelihood and that of your children if income and assets are not sufficient. You and your minor children form a benefit unit (Bedarfsgemeinschaft); each has their own standard rate, and as a single parent you additionally receive an additional needs allowance.
Child maintenance, advance maintenance payment, child benefit and – if these suffice – child supplement and housing benefit must be checked first, instead of basic income support. Child maintenance and advance maintenance payment count first as your child's income and reduce the child's own need.
Step by step
- Submit the applicationSubmit the application to the responsible Jobcenter, preferably informally and immediately – basic income support is in principle only paid from the date of application.
- Clarify prior-ranking benefitsDeclare child maintenance, advance maintenance payment and child benefit; the Jobcenter first allocates these to your child's need.
- Declare the additional needs allowanceShow that you live alone with your minor child and exercise custodial care alone – the additional needs allowance is then taken into account automatically.
- Clarify the reasonableness of workExplain if and why certain working hours are not reasonable for you because of a lack of childcare.
- Discuss the cooperation planAgree realistic steps with the Jobcenter in the cooperation plan (Kooperationsplan) that take your childcare situation into account.
Deadlines
- Child maintenance and advance maintenance payment are not automatically credited to your own need but first to the child's need – this is often misunderstood and leads to wrong expectations in the calculation.
- Under § 10 Abs. 1 Nr. 3 SGB II work is not reasonable for you if the upbringing of a child under 14 months would be jeopardised and no reasonable childcare option exists – for older children this exception does not apply automatically, what counts here is the actual availability of childcare.
- Before applying, check whether child supplement and housing benefit already remove your need completely – if so, these benefits must be applied for first.
- A cooperation plan or a summons to report is binding even if you consider it inappropriate – objections belong in an objection (Widerspruch), not in ignoring an appointment.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Benefit unit and counting of income
You and your minor, unmarried children in the household form a benefit unit (§ 7 Abs. 3 SGB II). Each member in principle has their own need; the child's income (maintenance, advance maintenance payment, child benefit) is first counted against the child's own need (§ 9 Abs. 2, § 11 SGB II). If the child's income does not suffice for their own need, basic income support fills the gap; any surplus in the child's income is not automatically credited to your need.
Reasonableness in relation to childcare
Under § 10 SGB II, any work you are mentally, emotionally and physically able to do is in principle reasonable. There is an express exception if the upbringing of a child under 14 months would be jeopardised and no childcare option exists or can reasonably be organised. For older children, reasonableness must be assessed in the individual case based on the childcare actually available (daycare, after-school care, all-day school) and agreed with the Jobcenter in the cooperation plan.
Relationship to child supplement and housing benefit
Child supplement presupposes precisely that it does not leave the person in need within the meaning of SGB II (§ 6a Abs. 1 Nr. 4 BKGG) – child supplement and basic income support are therefore as a rule mutually exclusive. Housing benefit also takes priority over basic income support if it would remove the need of the entire benefit unit for a sufficient period (§ 12a SGB II).
What changed on 1 July 2026
The Thirteenth Act Amending the Second Book of the Social Code and Other Acts (BGBl. 2026 I Nr. 107, issued 22 April 2026) renamed "Bürgergeld" as "Grundsicherungsgeld" and introduced, among other things, priority of placement, a uniform sanctions model and protected assets graduated by age – details can be found in this portal's guide for unemployed people.
A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.