Public Support Measures in Favour of Families – A Stocktaking for Germany

This paper takes stock of German public support measures in favour of families. The database comprises benefits from family-specific norms of tax law as well as cash and in-kind transfers both from public budgets (federal, states’ and local layer) and from the social insurance system (unemployment insurance, statutory pension fund, health, long term care, and accident insurance). Employers’ benefits and youth development schemes of the churches are included, too. Support measures defined that way actually amount to approximately 240 Bill. € in gross terms, i.e. without own contributions of families to tax and social security revenues. This sum equals 10.7 per cent of German gross domestic product.