Erfurt (dpa/th) - The left-wing parliamentary group sees a need for improvement in federal parental allowance for families. This applies to both the amount of the benefit and the duration of the claim, said the left-wing member of the state parliament Cordula Eger on Monday. "Each parent should be able to take twelve months of parental allowance without transferring it to the other," she said in a statement. According to the left, single parents should be paid parental allowance for 24 months, and they also advocated extending the entitlement to foster parents.

Parental allowance was introduced 15 years ago and is an income replacement benefit of around 67 percent of the income before the birth of a child. It amounts to a minimum of 300 euros and a maximum of 1,800 euros per month and is paid to the caring parent for up to twelve months after the birth of the child. In addition to the parental allowance, both parents are entitled to a total of three years of parental leave, which, however, is not paid.