Huge plus for families in Hartz IV: From July, the one-time subsidy of 200 euros and the child bonus will be paid out. Will the surcharge count towards the standard rate?
Berlin – The wait is over: Unemployed people in Germany can expect a substantial surcharge on the standard rate from July 2022. Whether Hartz IV bonus, children’s bonus or immediate children’s allowance – the payment of the one-off payments from the relief package has started. There has never been so much money on top of basic security. Because the monthly payments are no longer sufficient to cover the enormously increased costs for food and energy. But for many families there are still a few questions, namely: Will the child bonus and the 200 euro surcharge be counted towards Hartz IV? And above all: When will the money be paid out? There has been a lot of confusion about this lately.
Child bonus and Hartz IV bonus: Relief package 2022 gives recipients of basic security a big surcharge
All measures are part of the 2022 relief package. The federal government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has launched it to absorb the cost of living that has risen due to the Ukraine war. The recipients of Hartz IV in particular should now benefit enormously: from July there will be a one-off payment of 200 euros – it is intended to compensate for the additional costs of the Corona period and inflation. There is also a children’s bonus of 100 euros – per child.
The child bonus is not to be confused with the immediate child supplement. This is another monthly subsidy of 20 euros, which will be paid out in July to families who are entitled to social benefits. Even before the relief package, the traffic light coalition had initiated this measure to increase the social participation of children at risk of poverty. The supplement is to be paid until the introduction of permanent basic child security.
Relief package 2022: Will the child bonus count towards Hartz IV?
The bottom line is that a Hartz IV family with one child now receives a plus of 320 euros. But will the child bonus and the Hartz IV subsidy now count towards the conventional standard rate? no The recipients of basic security need not be afraid of this. According to the Federal Employment Agency, there are no plans to reduce the other benefits. However, the increased child benefit can generally be offset against the tax child allowance – high earners therefore benefit less from the special payment. In the case of social benefits, however, the child bonus 2022 from the relief package is not to be taken into account as income, so recipients of Hartz IV do not have to expect any taxes.
Hartz IV grant and child benefit bonus – who gets it?
The prerequisite for the Hartz IV bonus is that in July 2022 you have at least one day’s entitlement to unemployment benefit II, social benefits, social assistance or basic security. The child bonus is paid to all children who are entitled to child benefit in a month in 2022. There is also a supplement from the 2022 relief package for children who were or will be born this year.
The money should be automatically transferred to the account of the beneficiary by the family benefits office. A separate application is not necessary. In the case of separated parents, the situation is such that the parent who also receives the child benefit receives the 100 euros.
Didn’t get a Hartz IV bonus? There is confusion on the net about the payment
But when will the child bonus come in 2022 and when will the supplement be paid out? There has been confusion about this lately. July 1 was the official starting point for the payment of the one-off payments. However, many on Twitter were surprised in the first few days of the month that no money had landed in the account. “Is there a bonus? My account is empty,” complained one user. That’s typical again. Such comments abounded. But not only. Because others also celebrated the punctual payment of the job center.
When will the child bonus come in 2022? These are the dates for the payment of the child benefit bonus in July
In fact, the payout dates for the various supplements vary greatly. The child bonus is to be transferred as a separate one-time payment after the child benefit in July 2022. The child benefit number or the last digit decides exactly when the child bonus is in the account. The ones from the TV station RTL published overview shows the payment dates for child benefit 2022. The child bonus will then come a few days later:
| Endziffer 0 | July 5, 2022 |
| Endziffer 1 | July 6, 2022 |
| Endziffer 2 | July 7, 2022 |
| Endziffer 3 | July 8, 2022 |
| Endziffer 4 | July 11, 2022 |
| Endziffer 5 | July 12, 2022 |
| Endziffer 6 | July 13, 2022 |
| Endziffer 7 | July 15, 2022 |
| Endziffer 8 | July 18, 2022 |
| Endziffer 9 | July 19, 2022 |
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Paying out the €200 bonus is more complicated. In Germany, the job centers are organized differently. Some are under municipal responsibility, others are operated together with the Federal Employment Agency. As a result, the processes are different. In three quarters of all cases, the Hartz IV bonus should be paid out on July 23, as the Federal Ministry of Labor told the news portal The West explained after some confusion about the Hartz IV bonus payout. However, there are also special cases in which the entitlement to claim must first be clarified. In this case, two later dates are provided for the payment. These are:
Hartz IV bonus 2022 from the relief package: The payment dates at a glance
- July 23, 2022
- 20./21. August 2022
- 24./25. September 2022
It remains to be seen to what extent the bonuses will be sufficient to absorb the effects of inflation and the energy crisis. At first glance, the increase is large. A single parent in Hartz IV now receives a one-time surcharge of EUR 320 on top of the standard rate of EUR 760 – without any deductions. But experts assume that prices will remain high in the long term or could even rise further. As a result, the call for a new relief package is already getting louder.
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But within politics this is controversial. The measures from the second relief package, which also includes the 9-euro ticket, the tank discount for petrol and diesel and the energy price flat rate of 300 euros, together with the Hartz IV bonus and the child bonus, have torn a billion-dollar hole in the federal budget. And in the coming year, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), who recently provoked outrage over cuts in benefits for the long-term unemployed, must comply with the debt brake.
New relief package: Minister Lindner sees little scope for a third package of measures
The FDP politician had emphasized that there was no more scope for further relief this year. Before you put together a new relief package, you should first let the old measures take effect. However, Lindner is alone in the coalition with this opinion. Because within the SPD and the Greens there are many voices calling for additional supplements for low-income households.
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