This chapter will explain your entitlement to child benefit If you have been permanently residing in Croatia for at least 3 years, or have had the status of a foreigner with an approved permanent residence permit for at least 3 years, or asylum grantee status or a person under subsidiary protection without conditions in terms of citizenship or length of residence, and your household income is below a certain threshold, you are entitled to child benefit.

In what situation can I claim?

You can claim child benefit (doplatak za djecu) if your total income, earned in the previous calendar year, does not exceed 70% of the calculation base (income threshold - see Jargon busters). In other words, if the average income per member of your household does not exceed  EUR 310 a month.

If you claim child benefit for three or more children, you are also entitled to birth grant, but on condition that your income is not greater than the income threshold.

Child benefit can be claimed by a parent, adoptive parent, caregiver, stepfather, stepmother, grandmother, grandfather and foster parent. The claimant may be a grown child without both parents who is in full-time education.

Child benefit, as a rule, is paid for children aged up to 15 years or 19 years old. It may be prolonged to 21 years for a child who did not finish school in the usual period of time due to illness.

For severely disabled children up to the age of 18 or while a full time student, child benefit is paid while such disability exists.

What conditions do I need to meet?

You can claim child benefit if you are a parent (married, unmarried), adoptive parent, caregiver, stepfather, stepmother, grandmother, grandfather, foster parent or grown child without both parents in full-time education. You must have been permanently resident in Croatia for at least 3 years prior to claiming.

Your total income earned in the previous calendar year may not exceed 70% of the calculation base, i.e.  EUR310 in 2023.

You are entitled if you live in a shared household with a child who is under 15 years of age, or 19 years of age for a child in secondary school. If the child is of poor health, you are entitled to child benefit until their 21st birthday at most.

If the child cannot regularly attend class due to illness, you are still entitled when the child is prevented from going to school.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

Child benefit

The child benefit rate is set according to the total earned income of each member of the family monthly. Based on the monthly income per family member, there are three thresholds according to which the amount of child benefit is determined.

For a child with one parent, the amount is increased by 15%. For a child without both parents and children with impaired health, the amount is increased by 25%.

For a child with severely impaired health, child benefit is paid regardless of family income. It is set at 25% of the calculation base.

In addition to the set amount of child benefit, the person claiming can also obtain a birth grant for the third and every subsequent child for whom child benefit is paid.

Child benefit rates in 2023:

• Where child benefit is increased by 15%, it stands at EUR 46.00, EUR 38.00 or EUR 31.00;
• Where child benefit is increased by 25%, it stands at EUR 50.00, EUR 41.00 or EUR 33.00;
• Child benefit is EUR 111.00 for children with severe health impairments;

Birth grant for the 3rd child is EUR 66.00 or EUR 133.00 for the 4th child You can claim child benefit by submitting an application to your local office of the Croatian Pension Insurance Institute (HZMO).

Jargon busters

• Permanent residence is the place and address in Croatia at which a person has permanently settled for the purpose of exercising their rights and obligations associated with their life interests, such as family, professional, economic, social, cultural and other interests. Habitual residence is the term applying to people who are using the right of freedom of movement of workers in EU countries. It conveys permanence - you have been living in an EU country for some time and intend to stay there for the foreseeable future.
• Calculation base is the base for calculating support, benefits and severance pay, and in 2022 stood at EUR 442.00.
• Income threshold - the maximum amount of income per household member on the basis of which certain entitlements are received; set at 70% of the calculation base and currently standing at (EUR 310.00.

Forms you may need to fill in

• Application for claiming child benefit;
• Certificate of full-time education for all school children.

Know your rights

You can find out about your legal rights at the links below. They are not European Commission websites and do not represent the views of the Commission:

• Parents' rights under the Child Benefit Act;
• Child Benefit Act.

Commission publications and websites:

• Family benefits: Your rights as an EU citizen in other EU countries.

Who do you need to contact?

Croatian Pension Insurance Institute
A. Žaje 44
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
Tel. +385 14595500, +385 800 636363
http://www.mirovinsko.hr/default.aspx?id=4298

Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy

Ulica grada Vukovara 78

HR-10000 Zagreb

https://mrosp.gov.hr/

Central State Office for Demography and Youth

Trg NevenkeTopalusic 1
HR-10000 Zagreb
Croatia
Tel. +385 1 555 7111,

       +385 1 555 7013

Fax. + 385 1 555 7224

WEB: https://demografijaimladi.gov.hr/

e-mail: info@demografijaimladi.hr