Civil servants will lose thousands in family allowances. The system is faulty

In Poland, no one would agree to this – we prefer clear rules. Meanwhile, in Germany, anyone who wants to know how much a civil servant earns cannot simply look at the pay scale. The differences in earnings and status are too great.

The salary of a German official depends on the grade, level of experience, federal status of the office, personal qualifications and the allowances granted. That’s why Germans want legitimate changes.

Incorrect salary classification. Unfair family allowances

Everything indicates that the German civil service remuneration system is too complicated. In addition, experts believe that a fundamental part of this system is simply flawed.

According to focus.de, a teacher with grade A13 does not automatically earn the same amount in every federal state. Moreover, in some Länder, primary school teachers are paid at grade A12 and in others at grade A13. The problem is that the difference in pay can reach up to several hundred euros a month!

The matter is even more complicated by the issue of family allowances. In North Rhine-Westphalia, married civil servants with four children living in a region with high rents can receive more than EUR 3,400 a month in family allowance (approximately PLN 14,700), while in Baden-Württemberg this benefit is only EUR 989 a month (approximately PLN 4,300) and is granted only for the third and each subsequent child.

All because, in order to fulfill their constitutional obligations, the federal states have developed completely different models for this purpose.

Billions of euros more to basic salaries. A fair chain reaction

Economist Gisela Färber proposes a revolution for Germany – higher basic salaries instead of separate allowances. Thanks to this, single people will not be discriminated against.

The increases would be significant – in 2025, Germany spent approximately EUR 826 million on family allowances for federal officials, federal judges and soldiers. This is over PLN 3.6 billion.

Since the principle of maintaining a reasonable distance between different pay groups requires maintaining an appropriate gap, an increase in the lowest salaries of officials will also result in an increase in salaries from higher levels, i.e. a chain reaction in terms of remuneration.

According to calculations, the federal government would have to spend an additional €3.5 billion a year as a result. The federal states also expect additional costs. Hesse estimates it at over 750 million euros per year, Schleswig-Holstein at around 500 million and Thuringia at over 200 million euros.

In the background there is also an increase in pensions in Germany, and this is at odds with the announcement of drastic pension reforms by the government of Friedrich Merz. The system is in an increasingly worse condition, which is why Chancellor Merz proposes a reform: from 2031, the retirement age will automatically increase along with life expectancy indicators, which in practice means longer professional activity of Germans – even up to the age of 70.