German Family Minister Karin Prien's proposal to limit state child-support advances to children under 16, down from the current cutoff of 18, has triggered a wave of criticism from opposition leaders, welfare groups, and her own coalition partners.
The cuts would affect roughly 80,000 children, with the Association of Single Mothers and Fathers warning that families could lose up to 394 euros per month for children aged 16 to 18. Die Linke co-leader Ines Schwerdtner denounced the plans at a Berlin press conference on Tuesday, while Diakonie President Rüdiger Schuch joined the chorus of opposition. Social Democratic Party Secretary General Tim Klüssendorf flatly rejected the proposed reduction, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Governor Manuela Schwesig called for preserving the existing legal framework.
Expenditure on the advance has quadrupled since a 2017 reform that extended payments through age 18 with no time limit, replacing earlier restrictions that capped benefits at age 12 and 72 months.