Children in benefit communities Germany

A total of around 1.9 million children in Germany lived in households receiving benefits in December 2023. Two years earlier, in December 2021, the number of children in families receiving SGB II benefits was around 1.76 million. This was the lowest number since 2018.

Until 2022, benefits under SGB II were unemployment benefit II and social benefit. At the beginning of 2023, both benefits were combined under the term citizen's benefit also known as Bürgergeld.

Number of children in benefit communities* in Germany from 2018 to 2023

Characteristic	Number of children in families receiving benefits
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Release date

April 2024

More information

Region

Germany

Survey time period

As of December each year

Age group

Under 18 years

Supplementary notes

* The German term is "Bedarfsgemeinschaften" which is a legal term from German social law, particularly under the Second Book of the Social Code (SGB II), which pertains to basic income support for job seekers. It refers to a household community where the members are economically dependent on one another and are considered together when determining eligibility and the number of social benefits.

Examples of this are:

Spouses who are not permanently separated
Registered same-sex life partners who are not permanently separated
People in a community of responsibility and commitment (“marriage-like community”).
The benefit community also includes children who live in the household and are younger than 25 years old. Requirement: They are unmarried, able to work and cannot support yourself from your own income. Children's income includes, for example, child benefit or maintenance payments.

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