The Mütterrente, introduced in 2014, improved the recognition of parental leave periods for children born before 1992. Previously, one year of parental leave was taken into account, but since 2014 an additional year of leave is counted.

If you have already claimed parental leave periods with the German pension insurance (DRV), you do not need to take action: The parental leave periods are already registered in the pension account and the additional entitlement periods are automatically credited.

However, if you have not yet reported any periods of parental leave to the DRV, you need to declare them first. The DRV will then automatically check whether the Mütterrente applies.

In certain cases, periods of parental leave for children born before 1992 alone may result in a pension entitlement.An entitlement to a regular old-age pension requires a minimum of five years of contribution periods. Since two years of contribution periods are credited per child, this requirement is met if there are three children born before 1992.

By the way: Despite the term “Mütterrente” (mothers’ pension), fathers are also entitled to it, if the conditions are met.
 

Mütterrente II 

The “Mütterrente II” was introduced at the start of 2019, which allows parents to be credited with up to an additional half a year of parental leave periods for every child born before 1992. This means that up to 30 months of parental leave periods can be claimed per child, which equals up to two and a half additional pension points (Rentenpunkte). The number of pension points determines the amount of pension to be paid. For each pension point (West), one currently (2021) receives a pension of exactly 34.19 euros.

Updated: 08/21