Unemployment Benefit Germany: ALG I, Bürgergeld and Steps
Unemployment benefit in Germany: ALG I vs Bürgergeld, who qualifies, registration deadlines, how much and how long, your duties, and a four-week plan.
Unemployment benefit in Germany comes in two systems. Arbeitslosengeld I (ALG I) is insurance: at least twelve months of insured work in the last 30 months earns you 60% of your previous net pay, or 67% with a child, for six to 24 months, paid by the Agentur für Arbeit. Bürgergeld is basic security from the Jobcenter for people who can work but cannot cover their living costs. This guide explains the rules for people who moved to Germany for work, and the four-week plan I give clients so the benefit stays a bridge, not a stop.
I have coached more than 2,000 adults in Germany's publicly funded integration programmes since 2022, most of them referred by a Jobcenter or an Agentur für Arbeit. The legal facts below come from the Social Code III and II on gesetze-im-internet.de and from the Federal Employment Agency's own page, as of October 2026.
The two systems and who pays
| Arbeitslosengeld I (ALG I) | Bürgergeld | |
|---|---|---|
| Law | Social Code III, §§ 136 to 164 | Social Code II |
| Who pays | Agentur für Arbeit, from unemployment insurance | Jobcenter, from tax |
| Who gets it | People who paid in for at least twelve of the last 30 months | People aged 15 to retirement age who can work, need help and live in Germany |
| How much | 60% or 67% of previous net pay | Standard rates by household, plus housing |
| How long | 6 to 24 months, by insured months and age | As long as the need lasts |
Non-Germans qualify for ALG I when they hold EU, EEA or Swiss citizenship or a settlement or residence permit that allows work, according to the Federal Employment Agency (opens in a new tab). Bürgergeld is narrower: Section 7 of the Social Code II (opens in a new tab) excludes foreigners who are neither employed nor self-employed during their first three months, people without a right of residence, people whose stay rests only on job search or on an Opportunity Card, and asylum seekers covered by a separate law. After five years of habitual residence the exclusion for job seekers falls away.
Unemployment benefit in Germany: the ALG I conditions
Section 137 (opens in a new tab) names three conditions. You are unemployed, you have registered as unemployed with the Agentur für Arbeit, and you have met the qualifying period.
Unemployed (§ 138 (opens in a new tab)) means you have no job, you make your own efforts to find one, and you are available for placement: able and allowed to take insured work of at least 15 hours a week. A job under 15 hours a week does not stop you counting as unemployed.
The qualifying period (§ 142 (opens in a new tab)) is "mindestens zwölf Monate in einem Versicherungspflichtverhältnis", at least twelve months of insured employment within the 30 months before you register. Periods of child-raising up to the child's third birthday, sickness benefit and voluntary insurance count too. If you mostly worked in short fixed-term jobs of up to 14 weeks, six months can be enough.
Work in another EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein counts, the agency says, if you took insured work in Germany after coming back.
Registering: the deadlines that cost money
Two registrations, two deadlines:
- Job seeker (arbeitsuchend). Section 38 (opens in a new tab): register "spätestens drei Monate vor" the end of your job. If you learn the end date later, register within three days. This applies whether or not you dispute the dismissal.
- Unemployed (arbeitslos). Register by your first day without a job, online through the agency's digital service or in person. The day you register counts as the day you applied for benefit.
The agency pays monthly in arrears and can send an advance when documents are missing. Send the application itself about two weeks before unemployment starts; after that date you lose nothing as long as the registration was on time. Health insurance continues while you draw ALG I (§ 5 SGB V (opens in a new tab)).
How much and how long
Section 149 (opens in a new tab) sets the rate: 67% of the flat-rate net pay for people with at least one child in the tax-law sense, 60% for everyone else. The agency's method: your insured gross pay of the last twelve months, divided by 365, minus wage tax, any solidarity surcharge and a flat 20% for social insurance, gives the daily net figure. Your tax class therefore moves the benefit, and the agency warns that a class change can lower it.
Section 147 (opens in a new tab) sets the duration:
| Insured months in the last five years | Age | Months of benefit |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | any | 6 |
| 16 | any | 8 |
| 20 | any | 10 |
| 24 | any | 12 |
| 30 | 50 or older | 15 |
| 36 | 55 or older | 18 |
| 48 | 58 or older | 24 |
Your duties, and the blocking period
At the first meeting the agency runs a potential analysis and writes a cooperation agreement (Eingliederungsvereinbarung) with you (§ 37 (opens in a new tab)): the goal, what the agency does, how many applications you must send and how you prove them, and which support measures are planned. You get a copy.
Section 159 (opens in a new tab) lists the behaviour that triggers a Sperrzeit, a blocking period during which no benefit is paid: quitting without an important reason, refusing a job the agency offered, failing to prove your own efforts, refusing or dropping an activation measure, refusing or dropping an integration course you were asked to attend, missing appointments, and registering late as a job seeker. The agency puts the longest block at up to twelve weeks. A termination agreement with a severance payment can trigger it too, which is why the notice period rules matter before you sign anything.
One measure in that list is worth asking for rather than fearing. The activation and placement voucher (AVGS) under § 45 SGB III (opens in a new tab) funds coaching and job-search support. It is the caseworker's decision, not your right, so ask for it with a reason: a career change, a foreign qualification, a CV that is not working. My post on AVGS coaching explained covers how to ask.
Keep the search structured: a four-week plan
This is the first month I set with clients who have just registered:
Week 1: decide the target. Two or three job titles, not "anything". If the old job is gone for good, work through how to change careers before you write a single application.
Week 2: fix the documents. A German-format CV, a one-page cover letter per job, references attached. Send the first five applications and log them: the agency will ask, and the log shows you what works.
Week 3: open the network. Tell ten people you are looking, name the target role, ask for one introduction each.
Week 4: review and book the measure. Count applications, replies and interviews. Bring the numbers to your caseworker and ask for the AVGS or a language course if the gap is clear.
If you want someone outside the agency to build that plan with you and hold you to it, that is what my career change coaching does, in English, German, Lithuanian or Russian. Book a call and bring your cooperation agreement. We turn it into a week-by-week plan.
Questions and answers
Who gets unemployment benefit in Germany?
Under Section 137 of the Social Code III: people who are unemployed, have registered as unemployed with the Agentur für Arbeit and meet the qualifying period, which means at least twelve months of insured employment in the 30 months before registering. Non-Germans need EU, EEA or Swiss citizenship or a settlement or residence permit that allows work.
How much is unemployment benefit in Germany?
Section 149 sets it at 60% of your flat-rate net pay, or 67% if you or your partner has at least one child. The Federal Employment Agency takes your insured gross pay of the last twelve months, divides it by 365, deducts wage tax, any solidarity surcharge and a flat 20% for social insurance, and pays 60% or 67% of that daily figure.
How long is unemployment benefit paid?
Section 147 ties it to your insured months in the last five years and your age: twelve insured months give six months of benefit, 24 give twelve. From age 50 the maximum rises in steps, up to 24 months at 58 or older with 48 insured months.
When do I have to register as unemployed?
Register as a job seeker at least three months before the job ends, or within three days of learning the end date if less than three months remain, under Section 38. Register as unemployed by the first day without a job. The Agentur für Arbeit accepts both online. Late registration can cost you a blocking period.
What is the difference between ALG I and Bürgergeld?
ALG I is insurance: you paid in, you draw out, through the Agentur für Arbeit. Bürgergeld is basic security for people who can work but cannot cover their needs, paid by the Jobcenter under the Social Code II. People whose right to stay rests only on job search or an Opportunity Card are excluded from Bürgergeld.
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