As a rule, you will receive subsistence assistance as a social assistance benefit if you are in need of assistance and:

• neither basic security for jobseekers,
• nor receive basic security in old age and in the event of reduced earning capacity.

Children under the age of 15 receive social assistance if they:

• live together with people who receive subsistence assistance (usually with their parents), and
• are unable to secure their livelihood despite maintenance claims.

The benefits of subsistence assistance include:

• the lump-sum standard rate to secure a livelihood, for example for food, clothing or personal hygiene. A separate set of rules is set for each family member.
• Education and participation services for children and adolescents, for example for:
  • School trips,
  • personal school supplies,
  • school tickets,
  • supplementary learning support,
  • Lunch in schools or
  • Club fees, music lessons and the like.
• Needs for accommodation and heating.
• In exceptional cases, assumption of debts for:
  • prevention of homelessness,
  • Securing your accommodation, or
  • to remedy a comparable emergency, for example debts to the energy supplier.
• Needs for contributions from your health and long-term care insurance and, under certain conditions, for your retirement provision.

In addition to your standard rate, you can receive benefits for additional living expenses. You can apply for these additional requirements if you:

• meet the requirements for a severely disabled person's pass with the mark "G" and are not able to work under pension law,
• are expectant mothers from the 13th week of pregnancy,
• are single parents,
• have reached the age of 15, are disabled and receive assistance for appropriate schooling or training within the framework of integration assistance,
• are dependent on a special diet due to a medical illness, which leads to higher costs than a "normal" diet,
• the hot water is not produced by a central heating system, but decentrally (e.g. boiler) or
• You are a pupil and have expenses for the purchase or loan of textbooks or equivalent workbooks due to the respective school law regulations or school requirements.  

If you do not live alone, the social welfare office will include the entire family income to determine your need for help. For this purpose, the income of all family members living together in an apartment is taken into account, for example:

• earned income,
• maintenance payments and
• Pension income.

Child benefit paid for minors, as well as any maintenance payments for a child, are attributed to that child in order to meet his or her needs.

Certain assets are considered not to be taken into account, for example:

• smaller amounts of cash (financial assets per adult: EUR 10,000) or
• an appropriate house plot.

With a few exceptions, you will not receive any benefits for past periods.