Sources and method – Pregnancy & Parental Leave
Family start leave / paid leave for the second parent after the birth
The EU Directive (EU) 2019/1158 (work-life balance) required Member States, by 2 August 2022, to introduce among other things paid "paternity leave" of at least 10 working days around the birth. For the private sector, according to the position researched here (September 2026), there is to this day no German law of its own introducing such a paid leave entitlement ("Familienstartzeit") for the second parent: the original EU infringement procedure against Germany was closed on 1 June 2023, after the Vaterschaftsurlaubsgesetz (VRUG, in force since 24.12.2022) had implemented other parts of the Directive – but not the paid leave around the birth itself. The "Familienstartzeit" project announced in the 2021 coalition agreement was not enacted in this legislative term and, according to consistent reports, is also not to be included in the 2025 coalition agreement of the CDU/CSU and SPD coalition.
New and notable for the legal position: on 11 September 2025 the Administrative Court of Cologne (Az. 15 K 1556/24) ruled that federal civil servants can rely directly on the EU Directive and therefore have a claim against the federal government as employer to 10 days of paid leave after the birth, because the German legislature did not implement the Directive in time in this respect. The federal government has appealed against this judgment to the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia; it is therefore not yet final. This decision expressly concerns only federal civil servants in relation to the federal government as employer – it does not create a corresponding entitlement for employees in the private sector or in the public service outside the civil service relationship. Follow further developments before relying on a paid leave entitlement for the second parent.
Sources
- Gesetze im Internet (gesetze-im-internet.de), Federal Ministry of Justice and Federal Office of Justice, retrieved September 2026: consolidated versions of MuSchG (esp. §§ 1, 3, 9–13, 15–20), BEEG (esp. §§ 1, 2, 4, 15–21), SGB V (§§ 24i, 45), SGB VIII (§ 24), EStG (§§ 31, 62 ff.), BKGG (§ 6a), KSchG (§ 4), BGB (§§ 612a, 616), GewO (§ 106), AAG (§ 1). Basis for all sections cited in the text.
- Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), official pages on parental allowance, parental leave and family start leave, retrieved September 2026 (bmfsfj.de). Basis for assessing the current state of the debate on family start leave.
- familienportal.de (service of the BMFSFJ), retrieved September 2026. Basis for general procedural information on parental allowance and parental leave.
- § 1 Abs. 8 BEEG (gesetze-im-internet.de), income limits for entitlement to parental allowance: basis for the uniform income limit of €175,000 taxable income for births from 1 April 2025 and the previous tiers (€300,000/€250,000 until 31.3.2024, then uniformly €200,000 until 31.3.2025).
- VG Köln, judgment of 11.09.2025, Az. 15 K 1556/24 (via specialist press and association reports, incl. beck-aktuell.de and dbb/vbb.dbb.de, retrieved September 2026): basis for the statements on the entitlement of federal civil servants to paid leave after the birth; the judgment is, as far as known here, not final (appeal pending before the OVG NRW).
- Mutterschutz- und Elternzeitverordnung (MuSchEltZV) (gesetze-im-internet.de), in force since 14.02.2009: basis for the statement that for federal civil servants a separate regulation applies, modelled on MuSchG/BEEG but legally distinct.
Where information is expressly marked as uncertain
For some figures and legal questions, no direct official primary source with an exact, current value could be found during research, or an ongoing legal development had not yet concluded at the time of writing. This applies in particular to:
- Family start leave / paid paternity leave for the private sector: As things stand, there is no law in force on this; developments after the VG Köln judgment of 11.09.2025 (federal civil servants only, not final) are in flux – see the section above.
- Maternity pay (Mutterschaftsgeld) – exact daily maximum: The cap on the health insurance share of €13 per calendar day is mentioned in many secondary sources, but could not be conclusively cross-checked here against a single, up-to-date primary source; the page "Maternity pay" therefore deliberately gives no euro amount of its own and refers to the health insurance fund.
- Child sickness benefit (Kinderkrankengeld) – exact number of days per child and year: These values were changed several times in the last few years (including temporary pandemic-related increases); the currently valid figure for 2026 was not conclusively verified here and is therefore not stated on the topic page.
- Child benefit and child supplement (Kinderzuschlag) – exact euro amounts: Both amounts are regularly adjusted to the tax-free subsistence minimum; a current, reliably cross-checked amount was not available at the time of writing, so reference is made to familienkasse.de/arbeitsagentur.de instead of stating a possibly outdated figure.
- Parental allowance – exact minimum and maximum amounts and replacement rates depending on income: The calculation formula itself (65–100 % depending on income, minimum/maximum amount) is clearly set out in law, but is presented here without specific euro amounts, as these depend on individual net income and a flat example calculation could easily be misunderstood.
- Protection period after a miscarriage (§ 3 Abs. 5 MuSchG, since 1.6.2025): This rule is new; the exact staggering of the protection period by week of pregnancy was not reproduced in detail here, as secondary sources differed slightly on this – please check the current text of the law.
In all these cases the relevant topic page names the uncertainty expressly, rather than presenting a figure or assessment as settled law.
What this platform does – and what it does not
- Figures, deadlines, amounts and legal bases come from the sources named. Nothing was added that is not supported there. Where a statement could not be reliably verified, this is stated on the relevant page rather than guessed.
- These pages describe the legal position for employees in the private sector and in the public service (collectively agreed employees). For civil servants, separate rules apply in some areas (MuSchEltZV or state law), which are pointed out selectively but not covered fully in their own right.
- Special benefits for single parents (advance maintenance payments, tax relief amount) are only named here, not covered in depth – for that see the separate guide "Single mothers".
- Family law around pregnancy and parental leave is in flux (see the family start leave section above); courts and the legislature will still have to clarify some questions. The information does not replace legal advice in individual cases.
- Deadlines are often short and start with knowledge or receipt of an event. In case of doubt, immediately contact a pregnancy counselling centre, the responsible authority or a lawyer – see Advice and contact points.