A child allowance is taken into account for children who are of age
up to theage of 21, if they are not in employment and are registered as jobseekers with an employment agency in Germany,
up to the age of 25 if they are
- are being trained for a profession (this also includes school education) or
- are in a transitional period of no more than four months, which, among other things, lies between two training periods, or
- cannot start or continue vocational training for lack of a training place, or
- are doing a voluntary social or ecological year, a European development activity, a development policy voluntary service or a voluntary service of all generations within the meaning of Section 2 (1a) of the Seventh Book of the German Social Code or a federal voluntary service or an international youth voluntary service or another service abroad (Section 5 of the Federal Voluntary Service Act)
Children over the age of 18 are generally taken into account until they complete their first vocational training or first degree. Beyond that, children are only taken into account if they are not in gainful employment. In this context, gainful employment of the child with a regular weekly working time of a maximum of 20 hours, a training service relationship or a marginal employment relationship (so-called "mini-job") is not harmful.