Application for childcare allowance - is it also available online?
You can apply for the childcare allowance since 1.8.2013. While there is plenty of background information online about the controversial stove premium, there is little specific information about where and how exactly you apply for the childcare allowance. In this practical tip we try to give some guidance.
Where can you find reliable information about childcare allowance?
- General information on the care allowance can be found on the website of the Ministry of Family Affairs - however, you are looking for an application form or similar. in vain here.
- The reason: The payment of the childcare allowance is a national matter - you can see a list of the responsible state authorities here. However, there are no direct web links to application forms here - you will usually only find postal addresses or - as the greatest Internet feeling - a web or email address.
- In addition, the application regulations vary greatly from country to country - so let's take a look at the situation in Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin and Thuringia as an example.
Here's the childcare allowance application - or not
- The "Zentrum Bayern Familie und Zentrales" provides further details in its childcare allowance FAQ. Basically, the following applies in Bavaria: Anyone who has already applied for parental allowance for children born after the reference date of August 1st, 2012 will automatically receive the form for the childcare allowance. In this case, you do not need to apply for the care allowance in the Free State online. For 1.8. The Ministry of Family also promises to download an application from the website.
- The situation in North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, is different: Here, on the website of the Ministry of Family Affairs, there is a succinct reference to the fact that the childcare allowance must be requested from the responsible districts or independent cities. However, the ministry offers an info hotline: 0211 - 837 1912 or
- For all Berliners, on the other hand, an application form including an information sheet is available for download. However, you have to send it totally old school by post.
- On the official website of the Free State of Thuringia you will not find any helpful information apart from (mostly negative) press releases on childcare allowance. There are applications for parental allowance in the form area, but none for childcare allowance.
Conclusion: poor online childcare allowance
The sample above shows: Getting information or application forms for childcare allowance is at least currently a matter of luck or a question of where you live. There is no uniform regulation for all federal states on how and where claims for childcare allowance are to be registered; Not to mention a practical online application, such as is available in Bavaria for parental allowance. The currently still weak interest in childcare allowance can also be related to the fact that suitable information and applications are extremely difficult to find, at least on the Internet.