Unemployment benefits 1 and 2
Since 2005, a distinction has been made in Germany between unemployment benefit 1 and unemployment benefit 2. Although the two names sound very similar, they are two completely different services. You must be eligible for unemployment benefit 1. Alternatively, you will receive unemployment benefit 2 if you are registered as a jobseeker.
You stay in Germany even in the case of a shorter or longer period unemployment not without financial security. Unemployment insurance benefits or benefits from the state provide at least basic security while you are looking for a job.
Unemployment benefit - benefit from an insurance company or the state
- As an employee, you pay into unemployment insurance by law. This guarantees you benefits for a certain period of time, called unemployment benefit 1 (ALG I). If you no longer have a right to unemployment benefit 1 or if you do not have it when you become unemployed, you will receive unemployment benefit 2 (ALG II).
- ALG II was created in 2005 through the merging of unemployment benefit 1 and social assistance and is particularly known under the name Hartz IV.
- As an unemployed person you no longer have to apply to the social welfare office for social assistance if you are no longer entitled to unemployment benefit 1. Your contact person is and will remain the responsible job center as long as you are able to work and registered as a job seeker.
ALG 1 - benefit for the unemployed if the qualifying period has been fulfilled
- If you receive unemployment benefit 1, you are entitled to unemployment insurance. You have built this up by paying contributions to the Federal Employment Agency.
- Unemployment benefit 1 is therefore an insurance benefit that you are entitled to in the event of unemployment because you have paid into unemployment insurance for a certain period of time.
- After losing a job, all you have to do is register as unemployed with the responsible employment agency within the prescribed period. The Employment Agency will take care of all further formalities after the application has been submitted.
- The amount of unemployment benefit depends on earnings. As an unemployed person without a child, you are entitled to 60 percent of the last net salary (67 percent with a child).
The unemployment benefit II (ALG II), better known colloquially as Hartz IV, has ...
ALG 2 as a means of livelihood
- Unemployment benefit II or ALG 2 is a basic security for you as a job seeker if you cannot claim any or only a few benefits from the statutory unemployment insurance.
- ALG 2 emerged from the earlier unemployment benefits and social assistance. It is paid to you as a means of livelihood while you are looking for a job.
- The amount of unemployment benefit 2 is almost identical to the basic security / social assistance benefits. the costs This includes for housing, one-off allowances and any additional needs surcharges. In contrast to unemployment benefit, with ALG 2 you have to fall below certain asset exemption limits and income exemption limits. These are higher than for social assistance.
ALG 2 can be reduced under certain circumstances. You must report to the employment agency regularly and meet its requirements. This includes your own active job search and proof of it.
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