You can usually receive assistance with living expenses as social welfare benefits if you are in need of assistance and:

• neither basic income support for job seekers,
• nor basic income support for the elderly and persons with reduced earning capacity.

Children under the age of 15 receive social assistance if they:

• live with people who receive assistance with living expenses (usually with their parents) and
• cannot secure their livelihood despite maintenance claims.

The benefits of cost-of-living assistance include: 

• the flat-rate standard rate to cover living expenses, for example for food, clothing, or personal hygiene. A separate standard rate is set for each family member.
• Education and participation benefits for children and young people, for example for:
  • school trips,
  • personal school supplies,
  • student tickets,
  • supplementary learning support,
  • school lunches, or
  • club fees, music lessons, and similar expenses.
• Requirements for accommodation and heating.
• In exceptional cases, assumption of debts to:
  • prevent homelessness,
  • secure your accommodation or
  • resolve a comparable emergency situation, for example, debts to energy suppliers.
• Requirements for contributions to your health and long-term care insurance and, under certain conditions, for your retirement provision.

In addition to your standard rate, you can receive benefits for additional living expenses. You can apply for these additional benefits if you:

• meet the requirements for a severely disabled person's pass with the "G" mark and are not fit for work according to pension law, 
• are an expectant mother from the 13th week of pregnancy, 
• are a single parent, 
• are over 15 years of age, are disabled and receive assistance for appropriate schooling or training as part of integration assistance,
• require a special diet due to a medical condition, which leads to higher costs than a "normal" diet,
• do not have hot water provided by a central heating system, but generate it locally (e.g., boiler), or
• are a student and, due to the respective school regulations or school requirements, have expenses for the purchase or rental of school books or equivalent workbooks.  

If you do not live alone, the social welfare office will take your entire family income into account when determining your need for assistance. This includes the income of all family members living together in one household, for example:

• earned income,
• maintenance payments, and
• pension income.

Child benefit paid for minors and any child support payments are attributed to the child in question in order to cover their needs.

Certain assets are considered exempt assets that are not taken into account, for example:

• small amounts of cash (financial assets per adult: EUR 10,000) or
• a reasonable amount of real estate.

With a few exceptions, you will not receive any benefits for past periods.

• You are in need of assistance and:
  • temporarily fully incapacitated for work or
  • receive an old-age pension but have not yet reached the age limit for the standard old-age pension.

• You are in need of assistance if you are unable to cover your living expenses entirely from your own resources and efforts.

  You are temporarily fully incapacitated for work if you are unable to work regularly for at least 3 hours a day under the usual conditions of the general labor market for the foreseeable future (more than 6 months).

• You do not receive:
  • basic income support for job seekers,
  • basic income support in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity, or
  • basic benefits for asylum seekers.

Assistance with living expenses is provided from the point at which the social welfare office is informed of the entitlement to benefits. This information is usually provided in the form of an application.

• Arrange a consultation with your local social welfare office. Bring all the necessary documents with you to this consultation.
• Fill out the application for cost-of-living assistance during the consultation.
• The social welfare office will decide on your application and inform you of the result. This will be done by means of a notification, which is usually sent to you by letter.
• If your application is approved, you will receive a notice of approval; if it is rejected, you will receive a notice of rejection.
• In both cases, the notice must contain the reasons for the decision and information about the possibility of appealing against it. It must also include information about the deadline within which you can lodge an appeal.
• The approval notice must also state the amount of the benefit to be paid and the start date of the payment. From the date specified, the social welfare office will transfer the money to your account at the beginning of each month.
• Please note: You are obliged to notify your local social welfare office immediately of any changes in your income and financial circumstances.

objection

The deadlines set by the social welfare office for the submission of documents must be observed. If this is not possible for understandable reasons, you must apply for an extension. Otherwise, the social welfare office may refuse to pay benefits due to your failure to comply with your legal obligations to cooperate.

This also applies to the deadlines for appeals, i.e., if you disagree with the decision—not only in the case of a rejection, but also in the case of an approval (amount of the resulting benefit entitlement).

Your local social welfare office

Note: If the application is submitted to a social welfare office that is not responsible for your area, it will forward the application to the responsible social welfare office. In this case, you will be informed that the application has been forwarded.

• Valid identity card or passport, confirmation of residence if applicable 
• Proof of temporary full incapacity for work in the form of a pension notice or medical certificates
• Proof of income, for example, pension, sick pay, child benefit, maintenance payments, or advance maintenance payments
• Proof of assets, e.g., savings 
• Rental agreement and subsequent amendments, in particular with regard to the rent amount
• Proof of expenses, in addition to rent amount and rent payments, especially advance payments and statements for ancillary costs and heating costs, documents relating to insurance contributions
• Proof of health and long-term care insurance, i.e., information on health insurance and insurance status or contract for private health and long-term care insurance 

Note: The scope of the required documents, especially proof of income and assets, depends on the individual case. Your local social welfare office will request further documents from you, such as current bank statements, divorce decrees, or maintenance orders. 

Forms: available from your social welfare office

Written form required: No

Informal application possible: Yes

Personal appearance required: No

Online services available: No