Since its introduction in 2014, the maternity pension has cost roughly 119 billion euros, according to figures from the German Pension Insurance that newspapers linked to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” have reported. Presently the scheme costs about 13.5 billion euros each year, costs that are paid for by the pension insurance. It was created to give better recognition to the childcare contributions of older‑generation women – specifically those who had children before 1992.
Starting in 2027 the maternity pension is slated for another expansion that will add roughly 5 billion euros to the annual expense. These additional funds will be drawn from tax revenues. When the new payouts are included, the total yearly cost of the maternity pension – with money coming from various budget sources – will rise to approximately 18.5 billion euros.
Critics, including younger coalition politicians and experts, argue that the pension system is already under significant fiscal pressure because of demographic ageing. The CDU Business Council, an external lobby group, has even called for the pension to be abolished. The scheme was first introduced in mid‑2014. Before its introduction, women who had children before 1992 were heavily disadvantaged in pension calculations: children born after 1992 were credited with three years of childcare, while earlier generations received only one year.
In 2014 the credited childcare period for older women was first raised from one to two years under the first phase of the maternity pension (Mütterrente I). At that time the annual cost was around 7 billion euros. In 2019, the period was increased again by six months – under the second phase (Mütterrente II) – bringing the credited time to two and a half years and pushing yearly costs over 12 billion euros. The third phase (Mütterrente III), approved by the Bundestag last December, will extend the period by another six months to a full three years, thereby fully equalising the childcare credit for children born before and after 1992.