🧭 Overview: poverty and basic income support in Germany
In brief
Germany has no single statutory definition of "poverty". Several yardsticks exist side by side: The at-risk-of-poverty rate is a statistical value that describes how many people have to get by on less than 60 % of median income. The subsistence minimum (Existenzminimum), by contrast, is a legal yardstick: it sets the minimum income the state must guarantee, and is put into concrete figures through the standard rate (Regelbedarf) in basic income support. The two measure different things and should not be mixed up.
Which basic income support system is responsible for you does not depend on "how poor" you are, but on your life situation: people able to work, between the age of 15 and the standard retirement age, come under SGB II (basic income support, Grundsicherungsgeld, formerly "Bürgergeld"). People who are permanently and fully unable to work or who have reached the standard retirement age, as well as all other social assistance cases, come under SGB XII. Asylum seekers and certain other groups receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG).
Step by step
- Work out your life situationCheck whether you are able to work, have reached the standard retirement age, are permanently and fully unable to work or are in the asylum procedure – this determines which social code applies to you.
- Find the responsible officePeople able to work go to the Jobcenter (SGB II), all other social assistance cases to the municipal Sozialamt (social welfare office) (SGB XII); asylum seekers also go to the Sozialamt (AsylbLG).
- Roughly check your entitlementCompare your income and assets with the standard rate that applies to you plus reasonable housing costs – if they fall short, you generally have an entitlement.
- Apply or make the office awareUnder SGB II you must submit an application (principle of application); under social assistance under SGB XII it is in principle enough that the authority becomes aware of your need (principle of knowledge).
- Get advice if unclearIf you are unsure which system is responsible or whether several benefits overlap, independent social advice can help.
Deadlines
- Do not confuse the at-risk-of-poverty rate (a statistical, relative value) with individual need for social benefits – no personal entitlement can be derived from a rate.
- With social assistance (SGB XII), unlike basic income support, it is enough that the office knows about the need; if you wait until "everything is clear", you may forfeit benefit periods.
- Since 1 July 2026, "Bürgergeld" and "Grundsicherungsgeld" refer to the same benefit; "Grundsicherung im Alter" (basic income support in old age, SGB XII) is legally something different, even though the name sounds similar.
- If you have several possible entitlements (e.g. housing benefit, child supplement, basic income support), get advice rather than choosing the supposedly simplest option – subsidiarity and priority rules interlock.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Two statistical yardsticks, one word
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the at-risk-of-poverty rate from the EU-wide survey EU-SILC stood at 16.1 % of the population in Germany in 2025 (around 13.3 million people; the income data of the survey methodologically refer to the previous year, 2024). For the reporting year 2024, the rate had been 15.5 %. In 2025 the threshold was €1,446 net monthly income for single-person households and €3,036 for two adults with two children under 14. Including further criteria (material deprivation, low work intensity in the household), around 21.2 % were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2025.
The Paritätischer Gesamtverband analyses the same Mikrozensus/EU-SILC data basis in its Armutsbericht 2025 additionally by group: for 2024 the poverty rate was 16.2 % for women compared with 14.7 % for men, 24.8 % for young adults (18–24 years), 19.4 % for people aged 65 and over, 27 % for single parents and 29 % for single-person households. Among people in work the rate was 6.5 %, among part-time employees 9.6 %.
Subsistence minimum and standard rate
The constitutionally protected subsistence minimum (Art. 1 Abs. 1, Art. 20 Abs. 1 GG) is made concrete through the standard rate levels. For 2026 standard rate level 1 is officially €563 per month (annex to § 28 SGB XII). The arithmetical update would have produced €557; the protection of acquired status under § 28a Abs. 5 SGB XII rules out a reduction (Regelbedarfsstufen-Fortschreibungsverordnung 2026 of 17 October 2025, BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 243).
Three security systems, one subsidiarity principle
SGB II (principle of application, § 37 SGB II) applies to people able to work; SGB XII applies under the principle of knowledge (§ 18 SGB XII) to people permanently and fully unable to work and people at the standard retirement age (basic income support in old age and in case of reduced earning capacity, §§ 41 ff. SGB XII) and as "assistance with living costs" (Hilfe zum Lebensunterhalt, §§ 27 ff. SGB XII) for all other cases. The AsylbLG applies to asylum seekers and certain other groups of people. All three systems share the social-law subsidiarity principle: your own income, assets and priority benefits (child benefit, maintenance, housing benefit, pension) must be used first.
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.