Sorry to hear about your troubles. How long have you been employed before you got laid off? If you've been an employee for more than 12 months (less in certain

Sorry to hear about your troubles. How long have you been employed before you got laid off? If you've been an employee for more than 12 months (less in certain special cases), you can get "ALG 1" (Arbeitslosengeld 1) for a while which results in 60% of your previous salary. There are also quite a few of options for support in further training and education. The steps you need to take for all these things can all be very formalistic, very bureaucratic, very German and very dehumanizing. They also can add up to a lot of cognitive and emotional load - in hard situations with (often) no mental capacity for such work. I'm certainly no expert but I have some experience in dealing with "the system" with/for people who just can't deal with that kind of mental/formal gymnastics for whatever reason. Feel free to drop me an e-mail if you feel that I can help in any way. edit: Another person mentioned ALG 2 (Arbeitslosengeld 2 / Bürgergeld). That's the alternative to go for in case you haven't been employed long enough to get ALG 1. Of course it's less than ALG 1 but it covers the basics - especially basics such as shelter, food and health insurance.