The SPD parliamentary group has opposed flat cuts to parental allowance. Family Minister Karin Prien of the CDU faces pressure to save 500 million euros.
SPD vice chair Dagmar Schmidt said family policy must remain reliable and must not serve as a quick fix for short-term budget consolidation.
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil has ordered Prien’s ministry to cut spending. Elterngeld, with a budget of 7.5 billion euros, is the largest item. The 2027 budget already foresees 350 million euros less, but the finance ministry doubts demographic changes alone will deliver the full amount.
CDU secretary general Carsten Linnemann warned, “Hands off parental allowance!” SPD members view this as an attack on Klingbeil. Johannes Winkel of the Young Union criticized the lack of inflation adjustment for Elterngeld since 2007.
