Criteria to apply for Elterngeld:
Single and/or both the parents are eligible to apply for Elterngeld at any point of time as long as one or both the parties have lost their income due to child birth and care. There is a specific eligibility criterion that government authorities have put in place to ensure that all the parents that require financial aid can gain access to the predetermined amount of money.
First of all, single and/or both the parents applying for Elterngeld must be involved in care and education of the child. This includes taking care of food, health, education and all the other necessities to provide comfortable living conditions to the child. Both parent(s) and child/children must live under the same roof in the same country. Even foreigners are eligible for the cash benefit if they have primary residence in the country and worked here prior to the loss of income phase. Elterngeld is paid to the individuals who do not have any income if they have household earnings and up to 67% of the household income is paid to either one or both the parties at any point of time.
One of the most important criteria to apply for Elterngeld is that all the parties involved must be working 30hrs or less in a week. They must be employed for anything below 30hrs a week and continue to work until child birth. This a retroactive benefit so parents can apply even after experiencing the event.