💼 Topping up on a low income (working poor)
In brief
"Topping up" (Aufstocken) means: you work, but still earn so little that your income is not enough to live on. In that case you can apply for basic income support (Grundsicherungsgeld, SGB II) as a top-up. Common reasons are low hourly wages, part-time work, mini-jobs, high housing costs in urban areas or several children to support. Topping up is not an exception, but a regular part of the system: part of your earned income may be kept so that working pays more than relying on benefits alone.
Step by step
- Compare need and incomeCompare the standard rate plus reasonable housing costs with your actual net income after deducting the allowances.
- Apply at the JobcenterTop-up benefits are applied for at the Jobcenter like regular basic income support; attach payslips for the last few months.
- Report income on an ongoing basisFluctuating income (e.g. with shift work, seasonal jobs) must be reported to the Jobcenter; often a provisional award is made first.
- Check priority benefitsIf you work and have children, child supplement (Kinderzuschlag) and housing benefit (Wohngeld) can be more favourable than basic income support and must be checked first.
Deadlines
- Topping up is not a sign of failure, but a supplementary benefit provided for by law – the entitlement exists regardless of whether the work is full-time or part-time, fixed-term or a mini-job.
- If you do not apply for a top-up out of shame, you often also forgo access to the education and participation package for your children and to concessions such as the social pass.
- Fluctuating income should be estimated realistically: if too little income is stated, later repayment demands may follow; if too much is stated, money is missing in the current month.
- For families with earned income, child supplement and housing benefit can result in a higher total income than basic income support – a switch only makes sense after advice, not on a hunch.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Earned income allowances
Under § 11b SGB II, part of earned income is disregarded: €100 as a basic allowance, plus graduated allowances on further portions of income. The aim is to preserve a financial incentive to take up or increase paid work instead of being referred entirely to basic income support. The exact graduation of the allowances above the basic allowance depends on the level of gross income (§ 11b Abs. 3 SGB II).
Extent of the phenomenon
According to the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (Federal Employment Agency), an annual average of around 5.3 million people received SGB II benefits in 2025, of whom around 3.9 million (about 73 %) were able to work. Of these, in July 2025 around 806,000 employed benefit recipients able to work were in work and at the same time dependent on top-up basic income support – which corresponds to around 20 % of all benefit recipients able to work. In its Armutsbericht 2025, the Paritätischer Gesamtverband puts the poverty rate among people in work at 6.5 % and among part-time employees at 9.6 % (reporting year 2024, EU-SILC methodology) – this is a different statistical value from the number of top-up claimants from the Bundesagentur für Arbeit and should not be equated with it.
Relationship to child supplement and housing benefit
Families with earned income just above the basic income support threshold often receive child supplement (§ 6a BKGG) and housing benefit as a priority instead of basic income support – details, including how to apply, are covered by the existing Wegweiser module "Unemployed people" in its article on child supplement and family benefits.
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