Benefits

This is where, among other things, all the decisions regarding the granting of financial support for maintenance are taken. From applications for ongoing benefits, additional requirements and one-off allowances to the need for education and participation.

You may receive Citizen Money if you are able to work and entitled to benefits and hence fulfil at least the following conditions:

  • You are at least 15 years old and you have not yet reached the age limit for your pension.
  • You live in Germany and your life is mainly based here.
  • You can work at least 3 hours per day.
  • You or members of your community of dependence require assistance.

Requiring assistance means that your income and assets fall below your subsistence level and you can no longer make ends meet from your own resources. If your income and assets only just exceed your subsistence level, you might be entitled to claim the cost of accommodation or one-off needs.

You are able to work if you can work at least three hours a day and are not prevented from doing so for the foreseeable future because of illness or disability.

To receive citizen money you must submit an appropriate application.

Your Bad Kreuznach Jobcenter offers you the following options:

    • Online application submission via JC-Digital (including for further grant applications)
    • Application by telephone via telephone number 0671/850-318
    • Application submission by email or post (no specific form required)
    • Face-to-face appointment at the jobcenter

The citizen money will as a rule granted for twelve months. This does not apply if only an interim decision is made initially about the application for benefits. In such cases, benefits are granted for 6 months.

Please note: This video explains in a simple, clear and comprehensible manner chow to fill out the application for citizen money benefit
A community of dependence, which is usually the family, has at least one person able to work who is entitled to benefits.
§ 7 Para. 3 SGB II stipulates which persons are to be assigned to a community of dependence.

Household
All persons that live together “under one roof” are referred to as a household. These may be, for instance, relatives such as grandparents or aunts and uncles.

Haushaltsgemeinschaft

The standard needs regarding securing subsistence include in particular needs relating to food, clothing, personal hygiene, household goods, domestic power excluding the part relating to heating and water heating, as well as the need to participate in the social and cultural life of the community (the “socio-cultural subsistence level”). The standard needs are considered as a monthly fixed amount. You yourself are responsible for deciding on the use of the benefits paid to cover your standard needs. Besides regularly occurring needs e.g. food, irregularly occurring needs such as clothing are also to be covered from the relevant benefits.

Amendments and adjustments to standard needs are made on 1st January of each year and are published in the Federal Law Gazette by the Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (Federal Ministry of Employment and Social Services). If you are receiving ongoing benefits, the standard needs are automatically adjusted. There is no need to submit a separate application.

Accommodation costs (rented home or home ownership) and heating are taken into account at the actual levels in so far as they are reasonable. These also include overheads such as for cost of cold water and hot water supply.
The reasonableness of these expenses is checked by Bad Kreuznach Jobcenter in accordance with the regulations of the municipal authority (Bad Kreuznach District).
If the expenses for accommodation costs are unreasonably high, this may mean that they are not fully taken into account.

In individual cases, those entitled to benefits have greater needs not covered by the standard needs because of special circumstances. These are referred to as additional needs.

The following additional needs may be taken into account:

  • Additional needs due to pregnancy (for expectant mothers from the 13th week of pregnancy onwards)
  • Additional needs of single parents
  • Additional needs of disabled persons who receive certain benefits in accordance with Social Security Code IX or XII
  • Additional needs relating to expensive diets for medical reasons
  • Additional needs for decentralised water heating
  • Additional needs for unavoidable, ongoing, not merely one-off special requirements in cases of hardship
Certain one-off benefits may be granted upon application.

Assistance may be available for first fitting out accommodation, for clothing during pregnancy and the birth of a child or when the provision of orthopaedic shoes or medical equipment is necessary.

Income is in principle all the money that you receive. Income includes, for instance:

  • Income from employment and freelance work
  • Compensatory benefits such as unemployment benefit, parental allowance or sickness benefit
  • Income from rentals and leases
  • Maintenance benefits, child allowance, pensions
  • Capital gains and interest
  • One-off income (for example tax refunds, severance payments, inheritance)
  • Vocational training assistance, training allowance, BAFöG (Federal Training Assistance Act)

Your jobcenter subtracts tax allowances and associated expenses, among other things, from your income.

Please note: Income is taken into account in accordance with the “cashflow principle” per § 11 SGB II. This means that income is always to be taken into account in the month in which it is actually received.

Needs relating to education and participation in the social and cultural life of the community are taken into account separately for children, teenagers and young adults. The following benefits are possible:

  • School excursions and school trips lasting several days
  • School-related needs for pupils
  • Pupil support costs
  • Learning support
  • Covering the cost of midday meals in schools and child daycare centres
  • Participation in social and cultural life.

The benefits are provided in the form of vouchers, as direct payment to the service provider or as cash benefits.

If you receive citizen income on an ongoing basis, a separate application is only required for learning support. For the other benefits, it is sufficient for you to fill out this declaration form with the required statements.

Priority benefits are payments by other bodies intended to

  • avoid
  • eliminate
  • shorten or
  • reduce the need for assistance.

It is up to you to claim these benefits

You will find more detailed information in the information box on the right.

Citizens’ allowance is only paid if you cannot finance your living expenses with your own means. In addition to income, these means also include assets. From January 1, 2023, a waiting period for assets will be introduced for the first 12 months with the citizen’s income. This means that your assets are only taken into account if they are significant. This is the case if the sum exceeds EUR 40,000 for the applicant. The amount increases by EUR 15,000 for each additional person living in the community of need. Owner-occupied residential property (house property, condominium) is not taken into account when determining the substantial assets.