The underlying requirement for the financing of childcare costs in connection with DFG funding programmes is that such financing is guaranteed under the relevant local state legislation. To find out details of options at your university, please consult your local equity office, family office or travel expenses office.

Please retain brief documentation on site, e.g. in the form of a self-declaration confirming that this fundamental requirement is met.

Reimbursement additionally requires that

• the cost-incurring measure is directly related to the activities funded by the DFG and no other reimbursement options are available via third-party sources,
• the cost of childcare and care of relatives would not have been incurred if there had been no need for the professional development, business trip or training on official business,
• the regularly used and priority care options are not sufficient or available,
• the care is necessary and cannot be provided at a lower cost or without additional cost. Care is only deemed to be necessary if it is or would be provided even in the event of an absence for a private reason. Care is not to be provided at a lower cost or at no cost if reasonable and customary alternatives are not cheaper and there is no possibility of resorting to free care, provided by family members for example.
• As a general rule, only childcare during off-peak hours can be funded, i.e. childcare required that does not fall within the usual opening hours of local daycare centres or childminding services. As a benchmark for determining the usual opening hours of local daycare centres or childminding services, a comparison can be made with the care regularly offered in the municipality in which childcare facilities are to be used. For example, daycare centres frequently offer basic care between 8 am and 4 pm.; in this example, therefore, childcare before 8 am and after 4 pm could be recognised as being during off-peak hours.
• Funding for care during local opening hours is only possible in exceptional cases if there are clearly too few care places available locally or if the child is not yet legally entitled to a care place (under the age of one). In such cases, parents are required to pay the usual local contribution. Amounts in excess of this can be financed from the allowance. In order to determine the customary local contribution, the customary local fees for childcare are to be taken as the basis (e.g. based on municipal contribution tables for daycare).

Childcare costs can be reimbursed in the form of a subsidy up to the following maximum rates:

• In the amount of the applicable statutory minimum hourly wage as per Section 1 of the Minimum Wage Act ( MiLoG) in the case of short-term professional development, business trips or training on official business (see 1 under types of childcare).
• In the amount of customary local rates in all other instances of childcare (see 2 under types of childcare).
• Care costs for a maximum of 10 hours per 24-hour period.
• As a general principle at the level of the non-taxable amount for such benefits per year, i.e. currently €600 per employee for short-term childcare, see Section 3 (34a) b) Income Tax Act (EStG). Exceptions may apply to other types of childcare; see second dropdown box.  
• If several individual children require separate care, the above rates apply to each child. If two or more children receive care together, the rate per hour increases to one and a half times the simple hourly rate and the 24-hour rate increases to one and a half times the simple daily rate. The annual rate remains unchanged. Deviations are possible, in particular in order to adjust to the wage levels in other countries. The 24-hour period is to be counted starting from the time at which costs are incurred, not per calendar day.

Age limit for the care of children: 

• Children as defined in these regulations include biological children, adopted children and foster children in full-time care, and also the children of a partner living in the same household.
• Children are generally considered to require care up to the age of 14. In the case of older children between the ages of 14 and 18, care may be necessary based on the child’s personal circumstances or other factors. This must be verified by the employee by means of an official statement.

The following must be documented on site:

• When applying for business trips, professional development/training, employees must indicate that care costs will be incurred and must specify the estimated amount.
• In the case of measures directly initiated by the employer, the care costs likely to be incurred must be reported by the employee after receipt of the relevant order.
• As a rule, documentary evidence of costs incurred is to be submitted in the form of receipts, providing these are available to the employee (e.g. statement issued by the care facility, travel or flight tickets purchased directly by the employee, or accommodation costs for the person requiring care shown in an invoice). Declarations by the employee can be accepted in support of the remaining information. On request, evidence is to be submitted that can be provided with reasonable effort.
• If a private babysitter is hired, documentary evidence is to be provided in the form of a receipt from a receipt pad.

Tax treatment:

The institution must add reimbursements to gross salary as other remuneration and deduct payroll tax and, where applicable, social security contributions if and to the extent that the costs were incurred, e.g. as a result of caring for the following persons or in the following childcare situations:

• children aged 14 or over but under 18 who do not have a physical, mental or psychological disability that prevents them from supporting themselves (Section 3 (34a) (b) EStG);
• children or foster children of the employee’s partner who live in the same household but are not also children or foster children of the employee (Section 32(1) EStG);
• childcare that is not “short-term” within the meaning of Section 3 (34a) (b) EStG.
• For questions concerning individual cases, it is advisable to obtain a binding ruling from the tax office responsible.
• For more information, please refer to the Recommendations for the Reimbursement of Care Costs Under the Federal Equality Act by the BMBFSFJ(externer Link) (in German only)

Insofar as the DFG finances personnel expenditure – which includes childcare costs – it does not assume the role of employer at any time. The employer bears sole responsibility for compliance with the statutory requirements and the provisions of the relevant funding guidelines, in particular for observing the prohibition of favouritism (Besserstellungsverbot).

As far as the relevant state law provides for the funding of childcare costs, a distinction must be drawn between different types of childcare. The following principles apply:

1. Financing of short-term childcare

   The Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can be used to finance measures to cover the cost of short-term care of researchers’ children (within the meaning of Section 3 (34a) (b) EStG) who have not yet reached the age of 14 or who are unable to support themselves due to a physical, mental or psychological disability that occurred before they reached the age of 18. Childcare is defined as short-term if it is neither foreseeable nor indefinite and lasts no longer than one week. This refers to cases of short-term emergency childcare, such as one-off events, e.g. when regular childcare is not available or only in a reduced form, or where there is a need for participation in training at short notice.

   It generally applies that financing is available for additional, unavoidable care costs of max. €600 per year (upper limit in total for short-term care of children and relatives in need of care, see below) when the parents are not available for reasons specific to the project. Furthermore, the requirement is that care is needed that goes beyond any basic care that is customarily available on a local basis and that the care cannot be organised in any other way.

   Example:

   The daycare centre attended by Researcher X’s two-year-old daughter announces at short notice that it must close for two days because too many childcare workers are absent due to illness. Alternative childcare therefore has to be arranged at short notice. A babysitter is available and can provide childcare from 8 am to 4 pm on both days. Costs may be reimbursed only at the statutory minimum-wage rate, for no more than ten hours per day and up to a maximum of €600 per funding year. The reason why the childcare was required must be documented in a self-declaration. The costs must be evidenced by a receipt and the documentation retained on site.

2. Financing of non-short-term childcare

   Non-short-term childcare – also for school-age children – can be reimbursed providing the general requirements are met. Childcare is not considered short-term if it is foreseeable and/or lasts longer than one week, meaning that it does not fall under Section 3 (34a) (b) EStG. This refers to events such as those that take place during off-peak hours and were already planned in the proposal, events that occur on a regular basis during the week or at weekends, and lengthier research trips. Here again, the requirement is that the parents are not available to provide childcare for project-specific reasons. Furthermore, the requirement is that care is needed that goes beyond any basic care provision that is customarily available on a local basis and that the care cannot be organised in any other way.

   Examples:

   a. Foreseeable childcare:

   A specific three-day conference trip is already planned in the proposal and is therefore known about several months in advance. Researcher X has accordingly arranged additional project-related childcare for his*her daughter. Since the additional childcare required was foreseeable, the €600 limit does not apply in this case, although the principle of efficiency and economy must still be observed. The reimbursement may be subject to tax. 

   Additional project-related childcare necessitated by a long-planned closure of the daycare centre (such as a staff training day) is likewise foreseeable and may be funded in accordance with the principles set out above. This also applies to long-planned, non-postponable project appointments that must take place during periods when school's all-day care is closed.

   b. Childcare lasting longer than one week:

   The daycare centre attended by Researcher X’s two-year-old son has to close at short notice for two weeks because of water damage. Alternative or emergency childcare may be funded. The €600 limit does not apply in this case, although the principle of efficiency and economy must still be observed; tax may be payable.

   The same applies if
   • the childminder who looks after X’s one-and-a-half-year-old son is absent due to illness for eighth days or longer; or
   • the daycare centre attended by X’s six-year-old twins closes for three weeks during the summer holidays, but important project appointments that cannot be postponed are scheduled during two of those weeks.

3. Business-trip related financing of care and travel costs for children and persons requiring care

   3.1 Care at the place of residence

   Costs for the caregiver’s return journey to and from the person requiring care are only reimbursed if the caregiver provides the service free of charge. Costs are eligible if they apply to the cheapest reasonable means of transport within the above-mentioned limits. If the care is provided at the caregiver’s home, additional travel expenses incurred to the employee and the travel expenses of the person requiring care can be reimbursed subject to the same conditions.

   Examples:

   a. Childcare at the child’s place of residence:

   An acquaintance travels by train to look after Researcher X’s child free of charge while X attends a project-related conference. The cost of the outward and return rail tickets may be reimbursed, subject to the principle of efficiency and economy.

   If a private car is used because it is the least expensive means of transport, a mileage allowance may be reimbursed in accordance with the travel expenses legislation applicable locally.

   b. Childcare at the carer’s home:

   On the way to a project-related workshop, Researcher X makes a detour to take the child to their grandparents to be looked after. The same detour is required on the return journey. Two additional rail tickets have to be purchased.  The cost of the rail tickets required for these detours may be reimbursed, subject to the principle of efficiency and economy.

   3.2 Care at the place of the business trip

   If the care is provided at the place of the business trip, professional development or training on official business, accommodation costs for the person requiring care (e.g. the cost of an extra bed for an accompanying child) and the travel expenses for the person requiring care and the caregiver can be reimbursed within the legal maximum limits.

   Examples:

   a. Researcher X is still breastfeeding her child, so both the child and the other parent must accompany X to the project-related conference, so that the child can be cared for while X attends the conference. If an additional bed, a larger room, a cot or similar accommodation has to be booked for the child, these additional accommodation costs may be reimbursed. The child’s and carer's travel expenses, such as rail tickets, may also be reimbursed. The applicable travel expenses legislation must be observed with regard to the amounts reimbursed. The need for the child and carer to accompany X must be documented briefly for reimbursement purposes. Daily allowances, subsistence costs or similar expenses for the child and carer cannot be reimbursed, nor can the carer’s accommodation costs.

   b. Researcher X is a single parent and attends a project-specific conference at the weekend. Since no regular childcare is available at weekends and X’s three-year-old cannot be left overnight with someone he*she does not know, the child and an acquaintance accompany X. The acquaintance looks after the child free of charge while X attends the conference. Any additional accommodation costs incurred for the child and the travel expenses of the child and the acquaintance may be reimbursed within the statutory maximum amounts specified in the applicable travel expenses legislation. The need for the child and carer to accompany X must be briefly documented.

   Daily allowances, subsistence costs or similar expenses for the child and the acquaintance cannot be reimbursed, nor can the acquaintance’s accommodation costs.

4. Financing of places at daycare centres

   The costs of securing places at daycare centres or comparable facilities can be financed for children who are not required to attend school; in this case, there is no limit to the amount available.

   Example:

   Before the start of the project, a Collaborative Research Centre conducts a needs assessment to determine how many researchers require places at daycare centres in order to begin their project-specific work. Five places are reported as being required. In consultation with the university’s family service and in accordance with the requirements applicable locally, the Collaborative Research Centre reserves the required places at a daycare centre. The reservation costs may be covered. The researchers themselves must pay the monthly fees. The needs assessment must be documented.

5. Financing of arrangement and consulting fees under Section 3 (34a) (a) EStG

   There is no limit to the amount of financing available for payments in addition to remuneration for work which are made by the university to a service provider that advises researchers on care provision for their children or their relatives in need of care, or arranges caregivers on the researchers’ behalf.

This is only possible in connection with the care of relatives who require a certain level of long-term care according to the national scheme.

The following conditions have been established by the DFG’s funding bodies for the use of DFG funds to cover care costs for those requiring care. The DFG is obliged to implement these conditions; therefore the following applies:

• in principle, long-term care costs are covered by long-term care insurance, long-term care assistance or subsidies. In the event that the caregiver is unable to be present, the cost of substitute or short-term care is usually covered in the same way.
• Only in cases where such coverage of care costs is not available is it possible to consider a proportional assumption of the costs from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity.
• The requirement for this is the submission of a corresponding rejection notification (e.g. issued by the long-term care insurance company) and proof of the need for long-term care as defined in Section 61(1) Book XII of the Social Code (SGB).
• On-site documentation must be available showing that the requirements are met for claiming funds from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity for relatives in need of care.
• This covers all levels of long-term care under the national scheme.
• The general upper limit of €600 per year applies to the short-term care of children and relatives.

It is assumed that basic supervision needs are already covered. For this reason, the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can only be used to finance special care services that go beyond basic care needs and for which the caregivers are not available for project-specific reasons (e.g. due to conference visits). In this connection, only those costs that exceed the expenses already reimbursed according to the long-term care level under the national scheme can be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity.

What is more, care provision for relatives must be financed through the university or a service provider contracted by it, i.e. there must be no direct flow of money to a caregiver who is involved in the project. For this purpose, the university must offer the relevant services for people with care needs (e.g. by cooperating with a family service that is able to provide such support).
Here, too, the prohibition of favouritism (Besserstellungsverbot) must be observed. According to this, persons funded by the DFG may not receive better benefits than persons funded based on locally applicable collective bargaining law – including any collective bargaining allowances that may exist.

When setting up parent-child rooms at research institutions, the required items/fittings can be funded from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity providing the facilities are used by DFG-funded research staff and this constitutes an additional need (over and above core support). If the parent-child room is used exclusively by researchers involved in the research network, full funding is possible from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity.

Items/fittings that can be funded (proportionally according to the use by DFG-funded researchers) include the following:

• Toys/children's books
• Children’s furniture
• Nappy-changing table
• Desk, office chair, technical equipment required for the project-specific activity insofar as this cannot be financed from the usual funds made available by the state.

The Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can be used to finance a work-from-home office or a mobile workplace for active researchers with family obligations (childcare or the care of relatives who require a certain level of long-term care according to the national scheme) according to the provisions applicable at the institution concerned. This is conditional on such services not already forming part of the support normally available to university employees and on the support being necessary and feasible in view of both the continuation of the project and the family circumstances. Regulations regarding working from home and mobile work must be fundamentally in place at the institution. The existing regulations are to be applied accordingly in the research network or project.

Technical equipment is eligible for funding if it is required in order to carry out project-specific work and is not already available in connection with core support (for example the PC at the institute workplace). In other words, an adequately equipped workplace must continue to be available on site at the institution/university. Any additional equipment required for a work-from-home or mobile work set-up is to be procured by the research network/project management and remains the property of the university. Subject to this condition, laptops or docking stations can be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity, for example. It is not possible to finance such items as the provision of wireless LAN, additional electricity consumption or office furniture for a work-from-home set-up.

The Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can be used to finance relief staff to perform routine activities on behalf of researchers if the latter are subject to a double burden of research work and family obligations.

Relief staff – usually student assistants – are to be employed for a limited period of time and to an appropriate extent. The assessment and justification of what is appropriate is carried out by the funding recipient with the involvement of their HR department. An overall assessment can be used as a basis here. Here, consideration must be given to the necessary scope and time involved in deploying auxiliary staff in order to provide efficient project-specific relief for researchers with families. The decision is to be based on an assessment of the relevant overload/relief in the case of a double burden due to family and work, with due regard given to economic efficiency; this decision is to be documented and kept on site for audit purposes.

Example:

Researcher X (a member of staff) switches to part-time work during parental leave for six months. In consultation with the HR department, the project leader employs a student assistant to perform routine tasks that X cannot perform because X is working part-time during parental leave. The specific tasks to be performed in order to relieve X’s workload were agreed in advance, set out in writing and documented. The student assistant’s working hours reflect the relief required by X during the period of part-time work while on parental leave. 

Variation:

X’s routine tasks cannot be performed by a student assistant. A technical assistant must be employed to provide the necessary relief. This need must be plausibly justified and documented.

Support or relief staff cannot be funded while X is on full-time parental leave. For further information, please refer to the provisions regarding family leave(interner Link).

Research Training Groups are intended to enable female doctoral and postdoctoral researchers to advance their doctoral projects or other projects as quickly as possible in spite of health and/or legal restrictions on their ability to work during pregnancy or breastfeeding.

If the doctoral/postdoctoral researcher is unable or not permitted to carry out certain tasks due to pregnancy or the need to care for their infant, student or technical assistants can be financed from the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity for the purpose of substitution or support, for example.

If these funds are not sufficient, additional funds can be made available for this specific support of female doctoral and postdoctoral researchers (cf. also Proposal Preparation Instructions – Proposals to Establish Research Training Groups and International Research Training Groups, DFG form 54.05(interner Link),). If you have further questions, please contact the person responsible for the supervision of your Research Training Group.

For individual grants, Research Units and Priority Programmes as well as in Collaborative Research Centres, the Standard Allowance for Equity and Diversity can also be used to finance support staff for female researchers involved in the project 

• if certain tasks cannot be carried out due to pregnancy or breastfeeding
• or if ongoing, indispensable costs need to be covered during periods of mandatory or parental leave (e.g. ongoing costs for staff for plant care, animal husbandry, etc.).

For individual grants, Research Units and Priority Programmes, it must be considered whether the funds from the allowance should be used in a non-bureaucratic manner (also) for this measure or whether they should be retained for other projects in the area of equity and diversity and a supplementary proposal must be submitted instead. For information on the possibilities of such a supplementary proposal (replacement/catch-up period or support staff), please refer to the provisions regarding family leave(interner Link).