Austria - Family benefits
This chapter provides information about the benefits you can receive in Austria if you are responsible for a child.
These are:
- Child benefit;
- Child tax credit;
- Child-raising allowance.
In what situation can I claim?
You may be entitled to child benefit if you if you have permanent or habitual residence in Austria and if you have minor children living in your household or are mainly responsible for their maintenance costs. In addition to biological parents, grand-parents and adoptive and foster parents may also claim child benefit. If certain conditions are met, even the child him/herself may claim child benefit.
In the EU, you may also be granted entitlement to child benefit if your children live in another Member State (or Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland or the United Kingdom*).
All parents who are entitled to child benefit receive a child tax credit. This benefit is provided for in Austrian tax legislation and is paid in cash. It is also paid to non-taxable persons.
The receipt of child benefit is also a condition for receiving the child-raising allowance which is provided to parents with young children to compensate and appreciate the provision of care and to make up for lost or potential income.
*Note on the UK: Each case must be examined individually to determine whether a person falls within the scope of either Article 30 of the Withdrawal Agreement and thus the EU Coordination Regulations apply, or whether the person falls within the scope of the situations described in Article 32 of the Withdrawal Agreement and/or the national legislation and social security coordination protocol annexed to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
What conditions do I need to meet?
Child benefit
All families are entitled to child benefit, regardless of income.
Child tax credit
Child tax credit is paid together with child benefit.
Child-raising allowance
To be eligible for child-raising allowance, all general eligibility conditions need to be fulfilled, including entitlement to and receipt of child benefit for the child, centre of interests in Austria and legal residency in Austria.
To be eligible for income-dependent child-raising allowance, additional employment conditions apply.
What am I entitled to and how can I claim?
Child benefit
Child benefit is provided in a universal scheme for all Austrian residents and is financed by employers’ contributions and taxes. The amount of child benefit depends on the age of the child. In addition, a supplement is paid for two or more children.
The amount of child benefit is determined by the number and age of the children.
Child benefit for the calendar year 2023 is per child per month
- From birth: 120.6 EUR;
- From age three: 129 EUR;
- From age ten: 149.7 EUR;
- From age nineteen: 174.7 EUR.
The monthly total amount of child benefit is increased by sibling staggering for each child if it is paid for
- two children: EUR 7.5 per child;
- three children: EUR 18.4 per child;
- four children: EUR 28 per child;
- five children: EUR 33.9 per child;
- six children: EUR 37.8 per child;
- seven children and more: EUR 55 per child;
An additional EUR 164.9 per month is paid for children with severe disabilities.
A monthly supplement of EUR 21.20 per child is paid for every child after the second one. However, this supplement is granted only if the family’s taxable income in the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the application is made is less than EUR 55,000 (multiple birth supplement).
You can calculate your individual amount of family allowance using the online calculator.
Together with the child benefit, a school start allowance (Schulstartgeld) of EUR 100 is paid in September for each child aged 6 to 15. No separate application is required.
Child benefit is paid until the child reaches the age of majority, i.e. until he/she turns 19. The receipt may be prolonged until 24 for children in training for an occupation or receiving further college training in an occupation they have learnt (in the following special cases until 25: pregnant women, women with one or more children, military conscripts, persons with disabilities, persons following a long-term study, persons performing voluntary social service). Child benefit is provided without age limit for children who are expected to remain permanently incapable of work because of a disability which occurred before the age of 21 or during subsequent vocational training (in either case, before the age of 25).
You are not entitled to child benefit, if your child has reached the age of 18 and has an income above a certain monthly amount (a total of EUR 15,000 per year – minor excess permitted without refund obligation).
Child benefit is granted on application only. Payments can be made for the previous five years. Applications must be submitted on a special form to the tax office (Finanzamt).
Recipients of child benefit are obliged to inform their tax office, within one month, of any event causing their entitlement to lapse or of any changes in the circumstances on which their entitlement is based.
Child tax credit
Child tax credit (Kinderabsetzbetrag) of EUR 61.80 per child per month is paid in combination with the child benefit from general tax revenue. No separate application is required. It is also paid to non-taxable persons and to persons who pay low taxes.
Child-raising allowance
The flat-rate child-raising allowance (account) is a flexible arrangement to be claimed between 365 and up to 851 days after birth. Parents can take turns in which case the overall period of receipt will be extended (length depending on the selected option). The option with the shortest duration is to switch after 91 days and the one with the longest duration is to switch after 212 days. The daily flat-rate benefit for the short option is EUR 35.85 and EUR 15.38 for the longest option.
The income-related child-raising allowance can be claimed up to the 365th day after birth of the child (if the other parent is also involved, until the 426th day following the birth of the child). The amount is 80% of the latest income, and the daily rate is maximum EUR 69.83 per day.
Child-raising allowance is only available for the youngest child. In the case of multiple birth, there is a supplement of 50% of the amount of the child-raising allowance for each new-born child. This supplement is not provided in the case of income-related child-raising allowance.
Parents can alternate periods of leave twice, resulting in a maximum of three blocks, each lasting at least 61 continuous days. Simultaneous receipt of the benefit is possible for maximum 31 days only for the first time that parents take turns. The days during which both parents received the benefit will be deducted from the total eligibility period which has a minimum duration of 61 days.
Low-income families receive, under certain conditions, an allowance on top of the child-raising allowance (EUR 6.06/day for maximum 365 days from the application date, regardless of the selected variant). This allowance cannot be claimed in the case of income-related child-raising allowance.
Child-raising allowance and the additional allowance are granted by the relevant sickness insurance provider and can be claimed retroactively for maximum 182 days. Recipients are obliged to immediately inform the relevant sickness insurance fund if their family situation or the information included in the application form has changed.
Jargon busters
Maternity benefit (Wochengeld) is another term for maternity pay and a compensation which provides income replacement for the period before and after the mother’s (expected) due date, during which the (expectant) mother is not allowed to work.
Habitual residence - The terms ‘permanent residence’ and ‘habitual residence’ are defined under EU law. Please see the EU Regulation on the coordination of social security systems. In practice, it means the place where you have your centre of interests.
Forms you may need to fill in
- Online application for child benefit
- Child benefit application form (pdf)
- Child-raising allowance application form
Know your rights
The links below set out your rights in law. However, they are not official European Commission sites and do not represent the view of the Commission:
Commission publications:
Whom do you need to contact?
Ministry for Women, Family, Youth and Integration (Section VI Family and Young People)
Untere Donaustraße 13-15
1020 Vienna
AUSTRIA
T: +43 171100
E: service@bmfj.gv.at