CDU Conference Calls for Increase in Parental Allowance - CDU backs stricter school phone rules and expanded parental leave benefits
The CDU party conference has voted in favor of increasing parental leave benefits. On Saturday, delegates approved a motion by the party's youth wing, the Junge Union, calling for higher base payments—despite opposition from the conference's resolutions committee. The motion also demands reversing recent cuts to the income threshold for eligibility.
The Junge Union argues that parental leave pay is a key tool for boosting Germany's birth rate. However, the base amounts—ranging from €300 to €1,800 per month, depending on income—have not been raised since the benefit was introduced in 2007. Under the traffic-light coalition government, the income cap for receiving parental leave was lowered in 2023 as part of budget consolidation, first to €200,000 and then to €175,000.
Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) unsuccessfully urged delegates to reject the motion and instead refer it to the party's parliamentary group. She cited tight budget constraints and warned that adopting the proposal could limit the government's negotiating flexibility with its coalition partner, the SPD.
The conference also approved a motion calling for nationwide uniform rules on the use of mobile phones and other devices in schools up to and including the 10th grade. The proposal seeks to establish "binding protection zones" where private use of digital devices would be banned during classes and breaks.
Delegates further backed a Junge Union motion urging the federal government to ensure that funds from the DigitalPact 2.0—€5 billion earmarked for school digitization over the next five years—are "dispersed quickly, with minimal bureaucracy, and through practical procedures" to state authorities and school providers.
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