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Child benefit (Kinderzuschlag or KiZ) is a benefit for low-income families. Parents can request Kinderzuschlag, if they do not earn enough money to cover the child’s living needs. Most often, these are families with three or more children or families in which only one member of the household earns money.
If your income is below the limit of €600/€900 gross per month, you can apply for Hartz IV at the Jobcentre. It can still happen that the income is up to €100 below the limit for exercising the right to Kinderzuschlag, then you can use the extended Kinderzuschlag approach. This option is better, because you don’t have to use the Jobcentre service. The problem with Jobcentre is the extensive application and documentation you need to submit.
You can earn €250 per child per month. If you are entitled to an allowance, you can also submit a request for school supplies in the amount of around €174 per year per child. The fee for school supplies is paid in two installments. In August, around €116 and in February €58.
It is paid together with the child allowance. The application is submitted to the Family Fund or Familienkasse. You can fill out the application online.
If you have three children and are entitled to the maximum amount of supplement (Kinderzuschlag), the Familienkasse pays you €1,500 each month based on the child allowance and the child allowance supplement.
Beneficiaries of the Jobcentre/Hartz IV subsidy do not have the right to a supplement to the child allowance, because the amount of money needed for the children is already included in that allowance.
