Germany’s Federal Family Ministry is proposing a reform of the Unterhaltsvorschuss program to cap benefits at age 15, down from the current system that provides support up to 18 with no time limit, as part of a broader effort to curb rising municipal costs.

The reform is driven by budget pressures, with Unterhaltsvorschuss expenditures having quadrupled since the 2017 reform and becoming a major cost for municipalities.

Officials plan to introduce a bill to change the Unterhaltsvorschussgesetz, aiming to support children only up to age 15 and reduce federal expenditures amid ongoing cost increases.

The government and states want to coordinate debt collection more effectively to recover overdue support, framing stronger enforcement as a matter of justice for dependents.

The policy debate includes questions about extending financial support for single-parent families and the effectiveness of debt recovery from non-payers, highlighting who bears responsibility for child maintenance.

Coalition agreements indicated plans for relief and stricter penalties, but these measures have not yet been implemented, according to Prien.

Costs rose sharply since the reform; in 2024, 3.2 billion euros were paid, while only about 600 million euros were collected from debtors, underscoring collection challenges.

There are concerns about poverty risk and calls for coordinated funding from federal, state, and local governments to mitigate possible increases in child poverty and to strengthen social infrastructure.

Background: today, single parents can receive benefits when the other parent pays too little; the state recovers funds from delinquent parents, but recovery succeeds in only a minority of cases, with the federal government covering about 40% of costs.

The government plans stronger enforcement against delinquent payers, including possible driver’s license suspensions for falsified information or income non-disclosure, to improve collection and ease cost pressures on municipalities.

Prien argues Unterhaltsvorschuss is a major municipal cost and advocates tougher enforcement against non-payers as part of the reform.

Officials say the reform will relieve municipalities of rising costs and include stronger enforcement against non-payers as a core element.