Money & taxes
Sozialversicherung
Sozialversicherung is Germany's statutory social insurance: health, nursing care, pension, unemployment, and accident insurance. Employees and employers split contributions of roughly 40% of gross pay; working students are exempt from most branches and pay only 9.3% pension.
The German social-insurance system rests on five pillars: statutory health insurance (Krankenversicherung), long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung), pension insurance (Rentenversicherung), unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung), and employer-funded accident insurance. Contributions are calculated as percentages of gross salary up to assessment ceilings and split between employer and employee, together amounting to roughly 40% of gross pay.
Membership is automatic with employment; you cannot opt out of the statutory system as a normal employee. In return the system covers medical care, sick pay after six weeks, pensions, and unemployment benefits without separate underwriting.
What it means for working students
The Werkstudentenprivileg removes the employee share of health, nursing, and unemployment insurance from your payslip, leaving only the 9.3% pension contribution in 2026. Those pension months are not lost money: they count toward the minimum insurance period for a German pension and toward permanent-residency requirements. Health insurance still must exist; you pay the student rate directly to your Krankenkasse instead of through payroll.