SPD rejects plan to cut your child sick days to 10
Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU) wants parents to get fewer paid days off to care for a sick child. His coalition partner, the SPD, is pushing back hard. This is still a proposal and nothing has changed yet.
At present every parent with statutory health insurance can claim child sickness benefit (Kinderkrankengeld) for 15 days per child each year, and single parents for 30 days. The benefit applies when a child under 12 is ill and you have to stay home from work. The health insurance fund then usually pays around 90 percent of your net pay. The 15 day rule was introduced during the pandemic and was extended by law to cover 2024, 2025 and 2026.
In the Bundestag's government question time last Wednesday, Linnemann said he does not want to extend it again. That would take the entitlement back to the pre-pandemic level of 10 days per parent per child. "It will be ten days, times two is 20 days a year. And we had that in all the years before Corona," he said. According to Deutsches Ärzteblatt, the government hopes to save about 100 million euros, and the formal amendments are expected around the start of October.
The SPD's family policy spokesperson, Jasmina Hostert, told the Augsburger Allgemeine that the plan does the opposite of supporting families. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's premier Manuela Schwesig said the SPD had negotiated to keep the days as they are. The Greens, the Left party, church welfare groups and a children's cancer charity have also criticised the cut. They warn that parents of young or seriously ill children would be hit hardest.
What this means for you: for 2026 the 15 days (30 for single parents) still apply in full. If your child is ill, you can still claim them this year. Any cut would only take effect once the Bundestag passes the change. Keep a doctor's certificate for every day you claim, and check with your health insurance fund how many days you have already used.