Unemployment Benefit II /ALG II and income support / Sozialgeld

Unemployment Benefit II is a livelihood support benefit paid to individuals between the ages of 15 and 64 who cannot cover their upkeep from their income or assets. Income support is paid to members of their family who are living with them in a community of dependence (e.g. children under 15 years of age) and not able to work.

These benefits basically replace the former unemployment and social benefits and are governed by the Social Security Code II / SGB II, which was introduced on 1 January 2005 as part of the Fourth Act on Modern Services on the Labour Market (also known as "Hartz IV").

Students, however, are not entitled to ALG II as the SGB II contains a principle of exclusion (Article 7(5) and (6) of the SGB II): anyone who is still in full-time education is not entitled to benefits under the SGB II.

Nonetheless, there are some exceptions which should be considered, in particular, by students with children:

• Children up to the age of 15, as part of the community of dependence with their parents, are entitled to income support even if their parents are students and therefore affected by the exclusion rule. Children over the age of 15 are able to work and thus form their own community of dependence with entitlement to unemployment benefit.
  
  
• From the twelfth week of pregnancy, consideration should be given to applying for an additional needs allowance to cover the increase in needs arising from pregnancy (e.g. food, body hygiene or additional travel expenses). Students can apply for this allowance despite the basic exclusion as it does not cover needs associated with education or training.
  
  
• Single parents can also apply for an additional needs allowance.
  
  
• In cases of particular hardship and if parents cannot contribute to their own livelihood by taking a part-time job (which can assumed to be the case for single parents), benefits to cover their upkeep can be obtained, even if the applicant is pursuing a course of study that is eligible for BAföG support. However, these benefits are paid as a loan (benefits for additional needs and income support for the child are still paid as grants).
  
  
• If students have to interrupt their studies for more than three months for reasons associated with illness or a pregnancy, unemployment benefit may be claimed as in that case, the reasons mean that they cease to be entitled to payment of a BAföG grant. The BAföG grant continues to be paid for up to three months and there is no entitlement to unemployment benefit.
  
  
• Part-time students can claim unemployment benefit as the course of study does not generally occupy them full time. Consequently, however, to a certain extent they must be available for work. The best thing is to seek advice before deciding to study part-time!
  
  

For Non-EU students whith a student residence permit (§16) there ar negative consequences regarding to their residence permit if they get susidies from the Unemployment Benefit II.