Parental leave & Elterngeld calculator
How much Elterngeld will you get, and does the money last through the leave? Compare two ways to split the months and see your cash month by month.
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After 24 months, plan A (12+2) leaves €36,449, plan B (7+7) €35,128.
Elterngeld is about €1,640.06 a month for parent 1 and €1,800.00 for parent 2 (Basis), from Elterngeld-Netto of €2,523.17 and €2,948.00. Plan A has no cash gap; plan B has no cash gap.
- Elterngeld parent 1
- €1,640.06
- Elterngeld parent 2
- €1,800.00
- Lowest cash: plan A
- €21,500
- Lowest cash: plan B
- €21,500
Basis a month · Plus €820.03
Basis a month · Plus €900.00
Elterngeld in total €20,001
Elterngeld in total €20,800
- Plan A (12+2)
- Plan B (7+7)
What if… lowest cash
See the figures
| Month | Elterngeld A | Cash A | Elterngeld B | Cash B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | – | €21,500 | – | €21,500 |
| 7 | €1,640 | €24,833 | €1,640 | €24,833 |
| 12 | €1,640 | €25,811 | €1,800 | €24,489 |
| 14 | €1,800 | €25,673 | €1,800 | €24,351 |
| 24 | €0 | €36,449 | €0 | €35,128 |
Next step
How it calculates
The calculator estimates Elterngeld, Germany’s parental allowance, under the Federal Parental Allowance Act (BEEG) for employees who don’t work while drawing it:
- Elterngeld net income: from the average monthly gross before the birth it deducts a twelfth of the employee allowance (102.50 €), wage tax with solidarity surcharge and a flat 8 % church tax, and 21 % for social insurance (9 % health and care, 10 % pension, 2 % unemployment). Wage tax comes from the official programme of the year before the birth, without care-insurance surcharges, as § 2e BEEG prescribes.
- Replacement rate: 65 % of that net income. Below 1,240 € it rises step by step to 67 %, and below 1,000 € by 0.1 points per 2 € up to 100 %. At most 2,770 € net counts.
- Limits: Basiselterngeld is at least 300 € and at most 1,800 € a month; Elterngeld Plus is half, so 150 € to 900 €.
- Months: parents get 12 months of Basiselterngeld together, or 14 if both take at least two. One parent can draw at most 12. One Basis month can be swapped for two Plus months.
For the household it then runs month by month: parent 1 goes first, parent 2 takes over afterwards. The first two months after the birth are maternity protection (Mutterschutz) at about the usual net pay, from maternity benefit plus the employer’s top-up, and count as Elterngeld months. Kindergeld adds €259 a month. Childcare costs start once both parents are back at work.
Example: Lena and Jonas in Berlin
Lena earns €4,000 gross a month and Jonas €4,800, both in tax class IV. Lena’s Elterngeld net income is €2,523.17, so her Basiselterngeld is €1,640.06 a month. Jonas’s €2,948.00 is above the cap, so he gets the maximum of €1,800.00.
They have saved €24,000, spend €4,400 a month and expect €350 of new child costs. Plan A is the classic 12+2: Lena twelve months, Jonas two. After 24 months they hold €36,449 and have received €20,001 of Elterngeld. Plan B splits 7+7. Because Jonas earns more, his seven months off cost more salary; they end with €35,128, €1,322 less than plan A, even though Elterngeld is slightly higher at €20,800.
Try the what-if chips under the result: dearer childcare, Elterngeld Plus or slightly lower spending.
Getting more Elterngeld
Elterngeld follows the net pay of the twelve months before the birth, and two levers are legal and common. The first is the tax class: if the parent staying home longer moves from IV to III, their Elterngeld net income rises. The new class only counts if it applied in most months of the assessment period (§ 2c (3) BEEG), so switch early. The second is part-time with Elterngeld Plus: whoever keeps earning gets Plus on the income difference, often as much as Basis with income but for twice as long.
Parents with more than 175,000 € joint taxable income get no Elterngeld for births from April 2025. The calculator estimates that income from your salaries and warns you.
What it can’t see
It assumes steady salaries without one-off pay and parents who don’t work while drawing Elterngeld. Part-time during the benefit, the partnership bonus, the sibling bonus, self-employment and multiple births are left out. Elterngeld is tax-free but raises the tax rate on your other income (Progressionsvorbehalt), so a back payment the year after is common. Only the Elterngeldstelle can set the binding amount.
Above all, the calculation stops when the leave does. How part-time, Kita fees, a bigger home and the pension points from child-raising years fit together is what Zenarios projects for your whole family life.
Common questions
How much Elterngeld do I get on 4,000 € gross?
In tax class IV, without church tax and for a birth in 2027, the Elterngeld net income is 2,523.17 €. Basiselterngeld is 65 % of that, 1,640.06 € a month, or 820.03 € as Elterngeld Plus for twice as many months.
How is Elterngeld calculated?
From the average monthly gross of the 12 months before the birth, the Elterngeldstelle deducts 102.50 € for work expenses, wage tax with solidarity surcharge and church tax for your tax class, and a flat 21 % for social insurance. Of the resulting Elterngeld net income you get 65 % (up to 100 % on low incomes), at least 300 € and at most 1,800 € a month.
What salary gets the maximum Elterngeld?
The 1,800 € maximum starts at 2,770 € Elterngeld net income. For a birth in 2027 that is about 4,460 € gross a month in tax class I or IV, about 3,870 € in class III and about 5,490 € in class V, without church tax.
Is there an income limit for Elterngeld?
Yes. For births from 1 April 2025 there is no Elterngeld if the parents together had more than 175,000 € taxable income in the last tax year before the birth. The same limit applies to single parents.
Basiselterngeld or Elterngeld Plus?
Without income after the birth, Elterngeld Plus is half as much for twice as long, so the total is the same. Plus pays off mainly if you work part-time: it can then be as high as Basiselterngeld with income, yet still lasts twice as long.