In statutory nursing care insurance, there is a childless supplement in addition to the normal contribution. But what exactly does “childless” mean?
Anyone who has health insurance in Germany is also required to be a member of the nursing care insurance scheme. Those with statutory insurance automatically become members of the social nursing care insurance scheme (SPV), while those with private insurance must take out compulsory nursing care insurance (PPV). There is a special feature in the statutory nursing care insurance scheme for those without children: they must pay a surcharge.
You are considered childless for the purposes of nursing care insurance if you have neither biological children nor stepchildren, adopted children or foster children. It is irrelevant whether you are childless unintentionally. However, there is an age limit for the childless allowance.
You only have to pay it when you turn 23. If you receive citizen’s allowance, are doing military or community service, or were born before January 1, 1940, you are exempt from the surcharge. Anyone who no longer has children because they have died is not considered childless in nursing care insurance and therefore does not have to pay a surcharge. The same applies to parents whose children are already adults.
Since July 1, 2023, the additional contribution for childless people in long-term care insurance has been 0.6 percent. In total, they therefore pay 4 percent, as the general contribution rate is 3.4 percent.
Since the employer pays 1.7 percent of the general rate but does not contribute to the childless supplement, as a childless person you pay a total of 2.3 percent of your gross income into statutory nursing care insurance. There is an exception in Saxony: there the employer’s contribution is only 1.2 percent, so childless people pay a total of 2.8 percent of their gross income.
