24/9/2020 Deadline Extended for BauKindergeldDue to the Corona crisis, families now have three months longer to submit a building permit or a purchase contract to the building child benefit (Baukindergeld) in order to receive the state subsidy. 260,000 families have already applied for the grant. The federal government has just extended the deadline for the Baukindergeld by three months. It’s now valid until the end of March 2021 instead of 31.12.2020. This means that anyone who obtains a building permit or buys a property by March 31, 2021 can apply for the benefit. The main reason for such extension is the Corona pandemic, which has partially delayed the granting of building permits and the signing of purchase contracts. The application for funding can be submitted until the end of 2023 (As long as the funds are still available). This period remains unchanged. Around 260,500 families have already applied for subsidies for their own little nest by the end of August 2020. Since September 18, 2018, families have been eligible for the state subsidy for building a house or buying a real estate. Each child receives 12,000€, paid out in ten annual installments of 1200€ each. A total of 9.9 billion euros is available for the benefit. Learn more details here. Source: FAZ CategoriesAll Family Finance SELF DEVELOPMENT SHOPPING Archives October 2020 Related Articles22/9/2020 How to pay less for simply the best!Almost everyone wants to buy the best products in the market. Finding the best is not easy though! You have to do some research prior to every purchase. However, some testing agencies in Germany decided years ago to help customers make informed decisions before buying a product or a service. The good news is: according to their investigation reports, the best products are not necessarily the most expensive. So, you get to save money as well ;-) There are 2 main rating agencies in Germany. The oldest and most respected is Stiftung Warentest. It is a consumer organisation and foundation involved in investigating and comparing goods and services in an unbiased way. It was founded on 4 December 1964 by the Federal Republic of Germany as an independent foundation under civil law. It is based in Berlin. Stiftung Warentest is self-financing, selling its own magazines test and Finanztest (annual circulation around hundreds of thousands copies), books and special magazine issues, and also investigation results as paid-for content on its own website. The foundation also receives a subsidy from the Federal Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. This is a compensation for the fact that it does not carry any advertisements in its publications because this could compromise its independence. The classification of the evaluation results is based on the marking system used in German schools. This results in the following categories for the overall verdicts on the quality of goods and services:
The second agency is Ökotest is a consumer magazine that belongs to the media holding company of the political party SPD. It has been published monthly by the publishing house of the same name since April 1985. It’s based in Frankfurt. Unlike stiftung warentest, it doesn’t use exact numbers in its ratings verdicts. Many merchants advertise heavily any products rated highly by the agencies. They often print the rating seal directly on the product label or near the price tag. Wise shoppers should always look out for those seals and also follow the news for new ratings reports that are made publicly available for FREE, occasionally. Follow us on facebook to get updates on such reports ;-) Also, check out the video below for our handpicked recommendations of products rated highly by those agencies. CategoriesAll Family SELF DEVELOPMENT SHOPPING Archives October 2020 Related ArticlesThe Federal Cabinet has just approved a reform to the parental benefits (Elterngeld) in Germany. The changes affect parents with high incomes, parents who work part-time while receiving parental benefits and parents of children born too early. The new regulations are to come into force in 2021. The Bundestag and Bundesrat still have to agree though!
The cabinet also initiated an extension of the short-time work allowance (Kurzarbeit) in the Corona crisis. In the future, up to 24 months of salary compensation will be paid instead of the previous 12 months. Normally, Kurzarbeit workers receive only 60% of their last net salary, while parents with children receive 67%. These salaries will increase in two stages as the period of time increases. The maximum rate of 80% or, with children, 87% is due for all those who are on Kurzarbeit work for 7 months or longer. You can find here more details about Parental Benefits (Elterngeld & Elterngeldplus). Source: tagesschau.de CategoriesAll Family Finance SELF DEVELOPMENT SHOPPING Archives October 2020 Related Articles13/9/2020 How to buy The best for your baby!Every parent wants to always get the best for his/her child. Finding the best is not easy though! You have to do some research prior to every purchase. However, some testing agencies in Germany decided years ago to help customers make informed decisions before buying a product or a service. The good news is: according to their investigation reports, the best products are not necessarily the most expensive. So, you get to save money as well ;-) There are 2 main rating agencies in Germany. The oldest and most respected is Stiftung Warentest. It is a consumer organisation and foundation involved in investigating and comparing goods and services in an unbiased way. It was founded on 4 December 1964 by the Federal Republic of Germany as an independent foundation under civil law. It is based in Berlin. Stiftung Warentest is self-financing, selling its own magazines test and Finanztest (annual circulation around hundreds of thousands copies), books and special magazine issues, and also investigation results as paid-for content on its own website. The foundation also receives a subsidy from the Federal Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture and Consumer Protection. This is a compensation for the fact that it does not carry any advertisements in its publications because this could compromise its independence. The classification of the evaluation results is based on the marking system used in German schools. This results in the following categories for the overall verdicts on the quality of goods and services:
The second agency is Ökotest is a consumer magazine that belongs to the media holding company of the political party SPD. It has been published monthly by the publishing house of the same name since April 1985. It’s based in Frankfurt. Unlike stiftung warentest, it doesn’t use exact numbers in its ratings verdicts. Many merchants advertise heavily any products rated highly by the agencies. They often print the rating seal directly on the product label or near the price tag. Wise shoppers should always look out for those seals and also follow the news for new ratings reports that are made publicly available for FREE, occasionally. Follow us on facebook to get updates on such reports ;-) Also, check out the video below for our handpicked recommendations of products rated highly by those agencies. CategoriesAll Family SELF DEVELOPMENT SHOPPING Archives October 2020 Related ArticlesAnxiety, overweight and insufficient school knowledge: Even in the richest countries of the world, many children have to struggle with big problems. According to a UNICEF study, Germany is worse off than its neighbours. According to a UNICEF study, the life satisfaction of German children is lower than in other industrialised countries. According to the representative survey of the children's charity, 75 percent of 15-year-old girls and boys in Germany say that they are very satisfied with their lives. In the Netherlands the figure is 90 percent, in Switzerland 82 percent and in France 80 percent. The lowest value was measured in Turkey with 53 percent, followed by Japan and Great Britain. "75 percent is a good figure on the one hand, but you can also turn it around and say: one in four children is not very satisfied," said Rudi Tarneden, spokesperson for UNICEF Germany. "And that is just not so good by international comparison. He added that the fact that the parents of many German children are more driven by worry and fear than in other countries certainly played a role here. "If the adults don't convey much confidence, this is reflected in the children's attitudes. According to the study by the UNICEF research center Innocenti, Germany ranks 14th overall out of 41 OECD and EU countries studied in terms of child well-being. For the report, national data on children's mental and physical health as well as their school and social skills and the social framework conditions were evaluated. In the industrialized countries included in the report, children have to contend with mental problems as well as obesity and inadequate school knowledge. The proportion of children with obesity and overweight has increased in recent years: according to the study, about one in three children is either obese or overweight. In Germany, the proportion is 27 percent. About 40 percent of all children in EU and OECD countries do not have basic literacy and numeracy skills by age 15. Children in Bulgaria, Romania and Chile perform worst in this respect, while girls and boys in Estonia, Ireland and Finland perform best. UNICEF is also concerned about social skills: In most countries, one in five children has little confidence in their social ability to make new friends. Children in Chile, Japan and Iceland are the least confident in this regard. In Germany, only 72 percent of girls and boys say that they find it easy to make friends quickly. The highest suicide rate among young people - one of the main causes of death in the age group between 15 and 19 years in rich countries - is in Lithuania, followed by New Zealand and Estonia. Source: tagesschau.de CategoriesAll Family SELF DEVELOPMENT SHOPPING Archives October 2020 Related Articles |