The German government provides social assistance under the social benefits of the welfare system to all citizens and now Ukrainian Refugees. Eligible citizens can manage their expenses through this social assistance if you wish to receive the social benefits check the article to know more about the program.
Germany Social Benefits
The Social Welfare System of Germany provides financial assistance to the Germans and refugees living in Germany through social benefits. The Social Assistance Program under Germany’s social welfare system aims to offer an allowance to citizens who earn less or can’t work due to their circumstances and help them cover their living expenses.
The Social assistance program ensures that people have proper meals, clothing, household goods, and health. Under the German social benefits, the beneficiaries receive citizen income from local job centers and social benefits from the Social Welfare Office.
Through the citizen benefits, some beneficiaries can also unlock the benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act due to certain circumstances.
Under the program, the beneficiaries can receive cash benefits or vouchers as per their requirements. The beneficiaries can also receive one-off benefits for furnishing accommodation, for children and young adults’ education under certain circumstances.
Since June 2022, the Ukrainian refugees living in Germany also received welfare payments or citizens’ income under the German Social Assistance program.
Germany Social Benefits Eligibility
You can receive social benefits in Germany when you meet the following eligibility requirements:
- When your income and assets are not enough to cover your living costs.
- When you can work but do not earn enough you can receive a citizen’s income.
- When you can work for a limited extent that limits your earnings or you receive an old-age pension, you will receive social benefits.
- The Ukrainian refugee or non-national must receive a residence permit for temporary protection or a corresponding fictional certificate from the foreign authority to receive the citizen’s income and social benefits. Your local job center can guide you through this and receive the necessary documents.
The German government has relaxed the resident restrictions for the refugees so that they can easily integrate into the program and receive the needed social assistance to secure their living expenses, accommodation, and health care.
Germany Social Benefits Rates
The beneficiaries of the German Social Assistance program receive the citizens’ income to improve their living standard, hence the government provides a monthly standard allowance to ensure they manage their expenses well and live healthy lives with their families.
The standard allowance under the citizen’s income is the following allowance that you will receive based on the given circumstances:
Beneficiaries status | Monthly Standard Allowance amount |
Individual/ Single parent | € 563 |
Adult with minor partner | |
Couples | € 506 each |
Adults aged between 19 to 24 years (without their household) | € 451 |
Applicants who move to Germany without the jobcentre’s approval and aged between 14 to 24 | |
Children over the age of 14 but less than 18 years | € 471 |
Minors with an adult partner | |
Children above 6 years of age but less than 14 | € 390 |
Children aged between 0 to 5 years | € 357 |
The beneficiaries can calculate their monthly welfare payment or citizens’ income based on the above pay rates applicable under the given circumstances. The government also provides an additional €20 to the standard allowance under the instant children’s allowance.
As we have mentioned earlier, the beneficiaries can receive a one-off payment under the standard allowance for accommodation expenses, such as heating, renovating, furnishing, and other needs. The additional payments are supplementary top-up benefits to secure the livelihood of the beneficiaries.
How to apply for the Germany Social Assistance Program?
People living in Germany who can’t earn enough through their work to manage their living costs can apply for the Social benefits of citizen income in the following way when they meet the eligibility requirements and have the mandatory documents with them (residence permit):
- You must contact the employment agencies and job centers that help you live and work in Germany and ask for the application form.
- The application form will be available in German only, however, the information can be filled in English, Russian, and Ukrainian to make it convenient for applicants.
- In the application form, you enter the basic information, such as your family, depending on children, living conditions, etc. Some applicants may need to submit additional application forms depending on their living conditions. The Job centeres will help you with this, do ask if you need to enclose any additional forms.
- After completing the application form, submit the application form along with the required documents and additional forms (if any) to the Jobcentre.
- You can submit the complete application form to the Job center either by email or post. The beneficiaries can find the address of the nearest local job center at the official website https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/ukraine/ukraine-en
- You can also apply for the citizen income online through the above-mentioned official website and apply to your concerned Jobcentre.
The authority will verify your application and send you a reply to the application by post. Therefore, the authority advised the applicants to ensure a valid address for their application whether they are living with friends or family where their name should also be attached to the letterbox.
Will the Ukrainian refugees continue to receive social benefits in 2024?
According to reports, around 520,000 Ukrainians are registered as employable in German records, and around 1.1 million Ukrainians have migrated to Germany after the Russian invasion.
The government has opened the job market for the refugees to make it convenient for them to earn their living in the new country.
The demands to reduce the allowance to Ukrainian refugees have surfaced for a long time, but the government has rejected such demands. This year, government officials have confirmed that they have no plan to lower the citizen income payments or review the rules of the Social assistance program for Ukrainian refugees.
The German Social Assistance program allows people living in Germany’s non-nationals to earn enough living to secure their livelihood, so if you haven’t applied for the assistance yet, quickly apply and receive the benefits from the government.