Families Prefer Germany
Germany is known worldwide for providing families with excellent social and financial support. This makes the country a popular destination for new hires who either want to bring their family with them or who are thinking about having children in the near future.
According to the 2022 InterNations annual ‘Expat Insider‘ survey, the average age of expats relocating to Germany is 41 years old, so chances are high that many of them will be moving with their family. While some employers might consider bringing a family from overseas to be too difficult and time-consuming, hiring someone with children could actually prove to be good for the company in the long run. Employees with children are often very committed and dedicated to their work, as they are motivated to support their families and ensure stability for them.
The Expat Insider survey results show just how important job security is to expats, many of whom have children. Participants rated Germany in the top 5 in the 'Salary & Job Security' subcategory. While this factor makes working here even more appealing for someone supporting dependents, expats‘ frustration with the difficulty of settling in landed Germany in the bottom 5 of 52 rated countries.
Expath’s core mission is to help international employees land smoothly in their new country.
Relocation Support for Hires with Children
Moving to a new country always has its challenges. Helping new hires to settle in easily will reduce time spent on the initial necessary bureaucratic tasks, and enable them to work more productively. For families moving to Germany, the complexity of finding childcare, or signing up for Elterngeld and Kindergeld are hurdles too high to manage on their own. Professional assistance will help them navigate these steps, feel happier, and significantly reduce their stress levels — that‘s good for the employee and good for the business.
In order for new talent to focus on the job, they need to have childcare organized as quickly as possible. This can be particularly difficult in Berlin. Elodie Roux Heineck for example, founder of Baby in Berlin describes her experience: after sending out over 40 applications, and still not having a spot by the time her son was two years old, she decided to start her own Eltern-Initiativ-Kita. This is an extreme example, but the challenge of the KiTa search is not to be underestimated as it can take up to a year for some parents to find full-time childcare.
There are also different childcare options (KiTa, KiLa, EKT, Tagesmutter, etc.) to consider. And each application has to be tailored to specific criteria. This requires in-depth knowledge of the differences between options as well as an understanding of the application procedure itself. Applications for the KiTa Gutschein (voucher for child care costs), Elterngeld (parental allowance), and Kindergeld (child allowance) can also be tricky to understand. There are many steps to the entire process and often people aren’t aware of what they‘re entitled to receive if they haven’t worked in Germany before.
The expertise of a relocation specialist is indispensable in helping parents avoid becoming overwhelmed while getting everything set up that they‘ll need after arriving in Germany.
While Expath can‘t guarantee where or when clients will find a KiTa spot, we can take over most of the research and application process, and help parents understand their options. This means peace of mind for the new hires and better workers for their employers.
Expath has over 10 years of experience relocating families to Germany.
Let us help your new talent cut through the red tape — book a free consultation now.
