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2mo ago

Family Minister Prien Backs Ending Spousal Tax Splitting After Study Finds It Deters Women’s Work

A DIW–Bertelsmann survey of women aged 45 to 66 found joint filing erodes the payoff from extra hours and estimated reforms could free about 175,000 full-time equivalents.

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In der Gastronomie sind besonders viele Teilzeit-Kräfte beschäftigt
Für viele in Teilzeit beschäftigte Frauen lohnt sich wegen des Ehegattensplittings eine Aufstockung ihrer Arbeitszeit nicht. Laut einer Studie der Bertelsmann-Stiftung spielt außerdem die Verteilung der Sorgearbeit eine Rolle.
Karin Prien (CDU)

Overview

  • Prien, a CDU minister, supports replacing the current regime with family-based taxation and urges scrapping tax classes 3 and 5 to make additional work more attractive for women.
  • The study surveyed 3,788 women in summer 2025 and found half of married part-time workers say extending hours does not pay, while roughly a third of non-employed women see little financial benefit from working.
  • In DIW simulations, moving away from joint taxation lifts the group’s employment rate by about 1.5 percentage points and hours by 3 percent, equal to roughly 175,000 full-time jobs.
  • Researchers and the Bertelsmann Stiftung point to options such as Realsplitting and ending special tax treatment for Minijobs, alongside better work conditions and more balanced care duties.
  • Political reactions remain split: Greens and the Left call for reform, CDU/CSU leadership defends the current model, the Finance Ministry cites ongoing work on reducing disincentives, and no consensus change has been adopted.