German child benefit paid to children living in EU countries, Digi Mart USA News: Conservative lawmakers in Germany have called for a change to EU law and for child benefit payments to children living abroad to be adjusted to local living costs, citing figures for nearly 300,000 children.
Günter Krings, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, told the newspaper Bild that Germany is the main exporter of child benefit to other EU countries, with about half a billion euros flowing across its borders each year from social funds. He said it was not acceptable for children living in Bulgaria or Romania to receive benefits calculated on German living costs, and that the European Commission and other EU member states had to understand that this would no longer be tolerated.
Krings also said that the high German child benefit creates a strong incentive, particularly toward Southeastern Europe, and that anyone who denied the potential for abuse must be very naive.
CSU domestic policy expert Stephan Mayer, also speaking to Bild, demanded that German child benefit no longer be paid for children abroad. If that cannot be implemented quickly under the law, he said, payments should at least be adjusted to living costs in the country of residence, where life is usually considerably cheaper.
According to Bild, German child benefit payments for children living abroad rose significantly over the past decade. At the end of 2025, such payments were made for 291,292 children, figures that the Federal Employment Agency (BA) provided in response to a query from the BSW party, the newspaper reported.
The number was 103,559 in 2011 and 158,169 in 2015.
Eligibility for German child benefit paid for children living abroad is based on European social security rules. The decisive factor is the country in which the eligible parent works, which usually also determines where taxes are paid.
