Students over 30 with a mini-job: health insurance costs

Health insurance as a student over 30 with a mini-job costs the same in 2026 as without a job, as long as your income together stays below €1,318.33. On this minimum amount the fund charges the 14.0% contribution rate plus its additional contribution, and long-term care insurance. For people without children and with the average additional contribution of 2.9%, that comes to €278.17 a month. Only above that amount does the contribution rise, by about 21 cents per additional euro.

This calculation applies if your compulsory student health insurance (Krankenversicherung der Studenten, KVdS) ended with the semester in which you turned 30 and you are a voluntary member of a statutory health insurance fund (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung, GKV). How this comes about is explained in Health Insurance for Students Over 30 in Germany.

Key facts

• Voluntary members pay their contribution rate on their income. Income counts from at least €1,318.33 up to at most €5,812.50 a month.
• The contribution rate is 14.0% plus the additional contribution of your fund. Long-term care insurance adds 3.6%, or 4.2% for people without children from age 23. It is calculated on the same income.
• A mini-job (Minijob) of up to €603 does not change the contribution, as long as all your income together stays below €1,318.33.
• A working student job (Werkstudentenjob) of at most 20 hours per week does not make you compulsorily insured. However, the fund generally counts the pay as income.
• If you regularly work more than 20 hours per week, you are usually compulsorily insured as an employee and no longer a voluntary member.
• Without proof of income, the fund charges the maximum contribution.

How does the fund calculate the contribution for a voluntarily insured student?

A voluntary member is someone who is statutorily insured without being compulsorily insured or family insured. After the KVdS ends, your membership with your fund continues in this form. The contribution depends on your total economic ability to pay (§ 240 SGB V). All of your income together counts.

The calculation has four components:

• Minimum assessment: for each calendar day, at least one ninetieth of the monthly reference income counts as income. In 2026 this is €3,955 divided by 3, so €1,318.33 a month. This applies even if you actually earn less.
• Maximum: from €5,812.50 a month, the contribution no longer rises.
• Contribution rate: members without an entitlement to sick pay pay the reduced rate of 14.0% (§ 243 SGB V). The additional contribution of your fund is added on the same income. The average additional contribution is 2.9% in 2026. The funds charge between 2.18 and 4.39% (list of health insurance funds of the GKV-Spitzenverband, status 16 October 2026).
• Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung): 3.6% of income, and 4.2% for people without children from age 23. As a voluntary member you pay it entirely yourself.

The €855 you may know from the KVdS do not apply to voluntary members. They are the fixed assessment basis of compulsory student insurance.

Which income counts toward the contribution?

Any income that you could use for your living costs counts, regardless of how it is taxed. For individual types of income, the catalogue of income of the GKV-Spitzenverband applies, which the funds use.

For maintenance, the classification only matters if your total income is above €1,318.33. Below that, the fund calculates with the minimum assessment in any case. The tax side of a mini-job is covered in Taxes on side jobs and mini-jobs (in German). Note the difference to family insurance: there, BAföG does not count, while for voluntary members the grant share does count.

What does a mini-job change about the contribution?

A mini-job is employment with earnings of at most €603 a month (limit for 2026). Your wage counts as income, but on its own it stays below the minimum assessment of €1,318.33. Therefore the mini-job does not change your contribution, as long as the sum of all income stays below that amount. In that case the fund calculates with the minimum assessment.

For a commercial mini-job, the employer pays flat-rate levies: 13% for health insurance, 15% for pension insurance and 2% flat-rate tax. These flat rates belong to the payroll of the mini-job. The fund calculates your own contribution as a voluntary member separately, using the calculation above. Whether your employer contributes anything further is something you clarify with the employer and your fund. In pension insurance, as a mini-job worker you pay 3.6% yourself. On application to your employer, you can be exempted from this.

From 1 January 2027 the mini-job limit rises to €633 a month.

What is the contribution for a working student job or part-time job?

The working student exemption (Werkstudentenprivileg) releases you from compulsory insurance as an employee in health, long-term care and unemployment insurance if you work at most 20 hours per week during the lecture period. However, it does not replace health insurance. If you are over 30, without a KVdS and not family insured, you therefore remain a voluntary member, and your pay from employment counts as income. The fund generally calculates as follows: contribution rate plus additional contribution on the total of all income, at least on €1,318.33 and at most on €5,812.50, plus long-term care insurance. The amount of your wage does not matter for the exemption from insurance obligations. For the contribution it counts once total income is above €1,318.33.

The following examples calculate with a 14.0% contribution rate plus 2.9% additional contribution, so 16.9%, and 4.2% long-term care insurance for people without children.

Example 1 (fictional): Jan is 33, studies on a master’s programme and earns €520 in a mini-job. His income is below €1,318.33. He pays €222.80 for health insurance and €55.37 for long-term care insurance, together €278.17 a month.

Example 2 (fictional): Sarah is 36 and works as a working student with €1,100 gross. In addition she receives €400 of BAföG as a grant. The total of €1,500 is above the minimum assessment. She pays €253.50 plus €63.00, so €316.50 a month.

Example 3 (fictional): Tim is 41 and works 20 hours per week as a working student with €1,900 gross. His health insurance costs €321.10, his long-term care insurance €79.80. Together that is €400.90 a month.

Rising from €1,500 to €1,900 increases the contribution by €84.40. For childless members with a 2.9% additional contribution, each euro above the minimum assessment therefore costs 21.1 cents. With a child, long-term care insurance drops to 3.6%; at €1,500 income that would be €307.50 (without a child €316.50). You enter the additional contribution of your fund yourself in the calculation. An overview is provided in the article on additional contributions for 2026 (in German).

When are you compulsorily insured as a part-time employee?

If you work regularly for more than 20 hours per week, you are generally considered an employee and compulsorily insured as an employee (§ 5 SGB V). The voluntary insurance then ends. As an employee you are compulsorily insured only below the compulsory insurance threshold (in German) of €6,450 a month. How the contributions turn out depends on your earnings:

• Earnings up to €603: the mini-job rules apply, and your weekly hours do not matter for them. You remain a voluntary member, and nothing changes in the calculation above.
• Earnings from €603.01 to €2,000 a month: the transition zone (Midijob) applies. You pay lower contributions on a reduced assessment basis, and the employer bears the rest.
• Earnings above €2,000: the transition zone rule no longer applies, and contributions are calculated without a reduction. This also applies if several jobs together exceed €2,000, because the pay is added together.

Occasional extra work is harmless. For up to 26 weeks a year you may work more than 20 hours a week, if the work falls mainly on weekends, evenings or nights, or is limited to the semester break. The working student exemption ends with the month in which you are notified of your examination result in writing. In a very advanced subject semester it can be presumed that your studies are no longer the main focus. This presumption can be rebutted.

The details on hours and deadlines are in Working student and health insurance (in German). For side jobs of younger students, where family insurance, KVdS and PKV are the main issues, see Health insurance with a side job (in German).

Which proofs does the fund need?

The fund classifies you according to your income. If you provide no proof, the maximum contribution applies: for each calendar day, one thirtieth of the contribution assessment ceiling. In 2026 this is €1,226.44 a month with an additional contribution of 2.9% and no children. If you submit proof later, the fund sets the contribution anew. For low income, it calculates with the minimum assessment of €1,318.33.

Each fund decides for itself which documents it accepts. Ask before the first contribution notice. If your income changes significantly during the year, notify your fund so that it classifies your contribution correctly.

Frequently asked questions

What is my contribution as a student over 30 with a mini-job?

With a mini-job of up to €603 and no other income, the fund calculates with the minimum assessment of €1,318.33. For childless members with the average additional contribution of 2.9% in 2026, this comes to €278.17 a month in total. Depending on the fund, the amount is between €268.68 and €297.81.

Does BAföG count as income for the health insurance contribution?

The grant share counts, the loan share does not. For voluntary members this differs from family insurance, where BAföG is not taken into account.

When am I compulsorily insured as a part-time employee?

If you regularly work more than 20 hours a week, you are generally an employee and compulsorily insured as an employee. If you work at most 20 hours during the lecture period, you remain free of compulsory health, long-term care and unemployment insurance through the working student exemption, but pension insurance remains compulsory.

Do I have to report changes in income to the fund?

Ask your fund in what form and within what deadline it requires changes to be reported. It is sensible to report significant changes in your income, so that the fund classifies your contribution correctly. Which proofs it accepts is decided by each fund.

Does my employer pay a share for a mini-job?

For a mini-job, the employer pays flat-rate levies of 13% for health insurance, 15% for pension insurance and 2% flat-rate tax. Your own contribution as a voluntary member is calculated separately by the fund. Whether an additional contribution is paid on top is something you clarify with your employer.

Your next steps

1. Add up all the monthly income that counts: wages, BAföG grant, scholarship.
2. If the total is below €1,318.33, calculate with the minimum contribution. If it is above, multiply the total by 14.0% plus the additional contribution of your fund, and add the total multiplied by 4.2% for long-term care insurance (3.6% with a child).
3. Check whether your job makes you an employee. With regularly more than 20 hours per week, this is generally the case.
4. Submit proof of your income to the fund so that it does not apply the maximum contribution.
5. Report changes and recalculate the result every year, because the minimum assessment changes with the reference income.

If you want to talk through your situation, you will find the route to advice on the Academycon homepage (in German).

Related articles

• Health insurance as a student over 30 (in German)
• Extending student health insurance beyond 30 (in German)
• Earning money alongside your studies (in German)
• Private health insurance for working students (in German)

Related guides

• Work, taxes and contributions for students
• Working Student Health Insurance: Costs by Age
• Private Health Insurance for Working Students in Germany
• Part-Time Jobs and Taxes for Students in Germany
• German original (in German)

Information, not individual advice. The German version is authoritative. Last reviewed: 21 October 2026.