A child allowance is taken into account for adult children
up to the age 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 (including school education) or
- are in a transitional period of a maximum of four months between two training periods, or
- cannot start or continue vocational training due to a lack of a training place or
- is performing one of the following voluntary services
- a voluntary social year within the meaning of the Youth Voluntary Service Act,
- a voluntary ecological year within the meaning of the Youth Voluntary Service Act,
- a Federal Voluntary Service within the meaning of the Federal Voluntary Service Act,
- a voluntary activity within the framework of the European Solidarity Corps within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2021/888 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 establishing the European Solidarity Corps program and repealing Regulations (EU) 2018/1475 and (EU) No 375/2014 (OJ L 202, 8.6.2021, p. 32),
- another service abroad within the meaning of Section 5 of the Federal Volunteer Service Act
- a development volunteer service "weltwärts" within the meaning of the funding guidelines of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of January 1, 2016
- a voluntary service of all generations within the meaning of Section 2 (1a) of the Seventh Book of the German Social Code or
- an international youth volunteer service as defined by the directive of the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of January 4, 2021 (GMBl p. 77)
Children over the age of 18 are generally taken into account until they have completed their first vocational training or first degree. Beyond this, 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 harmless.