People who receive subsistence benefits from the City of Bonn in accordance with the German Social Code or unemployment benefit II are also entitled to a Bonn ID card.

Students, pupils and trainees can also apply for a Bonn ID card if they receive benefits under the Federal Training Assistance Act (BAföG) or a vocational training allowance.

On presentation of the Bonn ID card, a discount of 50 percent can be granted on the following municipal services:

• on the rates for Bonn's indoor and outdoor swimming pools;
• on cultural events of the city of Bonn (e.g. theater and concerts)
• on events organized by the Adult Education Center
• on fees charged by the municipal music school
• on fees charged by the city library;
• on parental contributions in municipal day care facilities for children and in day care facilities for children run by independent youth welfare organizations by the Office for Children, Youth and Family of the City of Bonn under special conditions.

Further benefits for people with a Bonn ID card:

• Discounted tickets from Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg GmbH (VRS)
• Discounted advice from the tenant advice center at the Office for Social Affairs and Housing;
• Subsidies for family recreational activities from the Office for Children, Youth and Family of the City of Bonn;
• Exemption from the payment of administrative fees in accordance with the administrative fee regulations of the City of Bonn.

Pupils receive the following additional benefits:

• free lunch for pupils attending municipal all-day schools or open all-day schools;
• free school milk breakfast for pupils in the first to fourth school year, including school kindergarten;
• Granting of subsidies for stays in municipal school hostels for school graduation trips and school holidays by the City of Bonn Education Authority.

People who receive subsistence benefits from the City of Bonn in accordance with the German Social Security Code receive the Bonn ID card by post without further request.

In order to be able to apply for BAföG, you generally have to start your education by the age of 30. However, this age limit can be exceeded if you were prevented from doing so due to raising children up to the age of 10.

The maximum funding period is generally the duration of training or the period of study specified in the examination regulations. If a student or trainee is unable to complete their studies or training within the prescribed period due to pregnancy or raising a child (up to the age of 10), the maximum funding period is extended.

In the case of pregnancy, additional funding of up to one semester is possible. If you are caring for and bringing up a child, the educational grant may be extended:

• in the first 5 years of the child's life by 1 semester per year of life,
• for the 6th and 7th year of the child's life by a total of 1 semester and
• for the 8th to 10th year of the child's life by a total of 1 semester.

In order to receive the additional funding, an application must be submitted in accordance with § 15 Para. 3 No. 5 BAföG.

Half of BAföG is an interest-free loan that must be repaid after completion of studies or training, up to a maximum of 10,000 euros. Under certain conditions, the loan amount may be reduced.

You can obtain detailed information from the  Federal Office of Administration (opens in a new tab) in 50728 Cologne, where you can also submit your application.

Detailed information and applications are available online at  www.das-neue-bafoeg.de. (opens in a new tab)

Trainees in apprenticeships can enquire about funding opportunities at the  employment agency (opens in a new tab), school pupils at the  education funding office (opens in a new tab) of their city or district administration and students at the student union of their university.

Advice assistance can be used for almost all legal issues outside of court proceedings, including family law matters (e.g. maintenance, paternity establishment), administrative law matters (e.g. social welfare, housing benefit, maintenance advance), disputes with employers or landlords. You can apply for counseling assistance orally or in writing directly at the local court responsible for your place of residence or via a lawyer. Your own contribution for the consultation is 15 euros, this fee can also be waived.

You can apply for legal aid if legal advice is not sufficient and you have to go to court or if legal action is taken against you. Legal aid covers the court costs and your own lawyer's fees. Legal aid is granted if the intended legal action or defense "offers sufficient prospect of success and does not appear to be unreasonable".

In the case of legal aid, the costs are covered in full or in part depending on the level of income. In the latter case, the personal contribution must be repaid in monthly installments.

Calculating whether you are entitled to assistance is complicated and depends on the individual case. As a rule, your lawyer will tell you whether you are eligible for help or you can enquire at the local court responsible for your place of residence.

If it is more favorable for the parents, there is the child allowance (3,336 euros per child, per parent) as an alternative to child benefit. If you are a single parent, the tax office will check this separately for each parent who is entitled to a child allowance.

Nevertheless, it is important that the tax office enters the number of children (via an application for income tax reduction). This is because the child allowance plays a role in the calculation of church tax and the solidarity surcharge. The entry is made automatically after the first application after birth for children under the age of 18, for older children you apply for it every year at your tax office on presentation of the school, training or study certificate (requirements:  see child benefit (opens in a new tab)).

In order to take the educational needs of children into account for tax purposes, there is a coupled allowance for the care/education or training of children amounting to EUR 2,928 for couples who are jointly assessed for tax (EUR 1,464 each for parents who are assessed alone). It applies until the child reaches the age of 18 or the age of 25 if the child is still in education. For an adult child in vocational training who is accommodated away from home, an additional 924 euros per year is taken into account as special needs.

You can have the full tax-free amount entered if the other parent

• has agreed in writing to the transfer of his or her half of the tax-free allowance for the respective tax year,
• does not meet his or her maintenance obligation towards the child (also due to lack of ability to pay) or meets less than 75 percent of it,
• the child's father cannot be officially identified or has died before the start of the calendar year.

Please note:

Applying for a full tax-free allowance can be disadvantageous for single parents:

If you apply for the full allowance for care and upbringing or education (2,928 euros), your contribution to the costs of childcare (which can be claimed for tax purposes) increases to the amount for couples (4,800 euros).

If you receive less than 75 percent of the maintenance for a child for whom you receive child benefit, you can apply for the full child allowance of 6,672 euros. However, the tax office will then automatically deduct the full allowance for care, upbringing or education of 2,928 euros per year. Please therefore check carefully what effects the various options have on your personal situation.

Actual single parents receive a permanent tax relief amount of 4,260 euros per year if you are a mother or father living alone in a household with a minor child. Have tax class 2 entered on your tax card if this has not already been done automatically. The prerequisite for this is that you receive child benefit or a child allowance is entered on your tax card and the children are registered with you. For each additional child, the relief amount increases by 240 euros.

If another adult moves into the shared home, you are no longer entitled to tax class 2 and the tax relief amount for single parents.

However, if this additional adult is your child who is in education, is doing military or civilian service for up to three years or is working as a development worker, you are still considered to be a single parent.

All allowances are only granted for the months of the year in which the conditions are actually met!

Since 2025, you can claim 80 percent of childcare costs, up to a maximum of EUR 4,800, for the care of children who have not yet reached the age of 14 or are unable to support themselves due to a physical, mental or psychological disability that occurred before they reached the age of 25. Childcare costs are, for example, costs for a childminder or a day care center.

There is no lump sum, so all expenses must be documented. The following, for example, can be considered as proof of childcare costs: daycare costs, after-school care and crèche care as well as care provided by childminders, nannies or au pairs. The caregivers can also be relatives - for example grandparents or adult siblings. In this case, however, a contract must be concluded that meets certain requirements.

Anyone who employs a babysitter can also claim this as a tax deduction, provided they can prove the expenses incurred. Only the pure childcare costs count for the deduction and not the costs for meals, for example at the daycare center.

However, travel costs or meals and accommodation that parents pay for a childminder or other caregivers employed in the household are recognized together with the childcare costs. Childcare costs affect working parents from the first euro. Even if one parent in a working couple only has a 400 euro job, the childcare costs are special expenses. For self-employed people, childcare costs count as business expenses.

Parents with self-employed part-time jobs can allocate them as they wish.

If you are not entitled to child benefit or child allowances, you can claim a maximum maintenance payment of EUR 11,604 per year as an extraordinary burden if there is a statutory maintenance obligation.

However, any income of the child that is higher than 624 euros per year will be deducted from this amount.