he article addresses the issue of the care allowance, which is available in cases of long- term adverse health conditions; it provides a description of the criteria for awarding the care allowance both in the Czech Republic and in Germany. The article suggests that the German system presents an example of good practice for valuating potential applicants for the allowance and the subsequent determination of the amount of the benefit. The text contains the results of a sociological survey conducted in the Moravian-Silesian region and points out inconsistencies in terms of the recognition of the degree of dependency in the Czech and German models. The author recommends that considerable attention should be devoted to this issue accompanied by more in-depth research, which has the potential, provided enough information is available, to initiate a society-wide and professional discussion on this issue and to result in changes or modifications to the criteria.