Free family vacation in Rhineland-Palatinate: Apply now!

Free family vacation in Rhineland-Palatinate: Apply now!

The summer holidays are just around the corner and while many families in Germany are planning to go on holiday together, there are also numerous households that cannot treat themselves to a break for financial reasons. In Rhineland-Palatinate in particular, help is now being offered to enable low-income families to experience a free holiday in a youth hostel or family holiday resort. The “Family Vacation Summer Campaign” project aims to give these families a week’s vacation, who have often never really gone away and sometimes don’t even have suitable luggage, as SWR reports.

With rising inflation and the associated financial burdens, such initiatives are becoming increasingly important. Katharina Binz, the Rhineland-Palatinate Family Minister, emphasizes how important it is that families are supported, especially at this time. Many of them are affected by the general increase in costs and can hardly afford leisure activities.

Support for families

The concept behind the “Family Holiday Summer Campaign” is part of a larger program that ran from October 2021 to December 2022, as well as the already established “Corona Time Out for Families” initiative. The latter is aimed specifically at families with low incomes or with relatives with disabilities. Here, too, holidays can be booked cheaply at participating institutions, although there are clear regulations that federal and state funding may not be combined for the same period, as the Rhineland-Palatinate service shows.

Holidays are becoming increasingly unaffordable for many families in Germany. Current statistics show that around 50% of low-income households cannot afford a one-week holiday - among single parents this number is even over 60%. In view of this sad reality, the state is relying on subsidies and subsidies to make traveling easier for families. Over 80 non-profit family holiday resorts in Germany offer a wide range of accommodations, from holiday homes to child-friendly programs with workshops and play opportunities, as highlighted by Brisant.

Participation of the federal states

Eleven out of sixteen federal states, including Rhineland-Palatinate, provide subsidies, which can vary depending on the federal state and income. These include Bavaria, North Rhine-Westphalia and Saxony, among others. Applications for this support can be submitted to various social institutions such as youth or district offices as well as the Ministry of Social Affairs. For example, Schleswig-Holstein offers up to 12 euros per day per child, while North Rhine-Westphalia requires a contribution of 50 euros per adult and 25 euros per child, although low earners can be exempt from these costs.

For many families in stressful situations, such as families with large children or single parents, this offers a welcome chance to enjoy a relaxing holiday. However, families are responsible for their own expenses such as pocket money, while the accommodation often does not show any price increases in high season, which makes these offers even more attractive.

At a time when the challenges in family financing are constantly increasing, it is clear that offers such as the “Family Holiday Summer Campaign” provide valuable support in enabling children and parents to have some wonderful days away from everyday life.