Luxembourg - Family benefits
This chapter tells you everything you need to know to claim family benefits.
If you work in Luxembourg, you may be eligible for family benefits, even if your children live in another country.
In what situation can I claim?
Allowance for the children’s future (allocation pour l’avenir des enfants) (abbreviation: Family allowance (allocation familiale))
Family allowance is granted to compensate for the financial costs related to supporting and educating your children.
Allowance payable at the beginning of the school year (allocation de rentrée scolaire)
This benefit is intended to compensate for the financial costs relating to the new school year, such as buying study materials, clothing, etc.
Birth grant (allocation de naissance)
The birth grant is allocated to women who have undergone monitoring and regular medical check-ups during their pregnancy, the birth and raising of their child up to the age of two years.
Parental leave benefit (indemnité de congé parental)
The parents of a young child may, thanks to parental leave, pause their professional career or reduce it in order to be with their child, with the assurance that they can return to their job at the end of the leave period.
What conditions do I need to meet?
All children who have their legal domicile in Luxembourg qualify for the family allowance.
If you are gainfully employed in Luxembourg, you are also entitled to family allowances for your children if they reside in another country. If you are receiving similar benefits in the country of residence, but the amount is lower, the Children’s Future Fund (Caisse pour l’avenir des enfants, CAE) will pay the difference.
All these benefits are also awarded for adopted children.
General child benefit
It is granted to all children aged under 18, or 25 if they are still pursuing secondary or assimilated studies, a specialised training for disabled young people or an apprenticeship. (State financial assistance is provided for university studies.)
Supplementary special allowance
This allowance is paid to all children under 25 who are recipients of the general child benefit and have a permanent reduced mental or physical capacity of at least 50% compared to a healthy child of their age.
Birth grant
You can benefit from this allowance during your pregnancy and after the birth, if you have all the required medical examinations carried out and certified in a maternity booklet.
If you are not resident in Luxembourg, you can also claim these benefits as long as you have some form of connection to Luxembourg and you do not already claim similar benefits in your country of residence.
Parental leave benefit
To benefit from parental leave, you must:
- be parent of a child aged under 6 years;
- raise the child or children concerned in your household during the parental leave and mainly devote yourself to the child's education;
- not be in gainful employment during parental leave or reduce your employment in the case of part-time parental leave;
- be affiliated for a continuous period of at least 12 months preceding immediately the start of the parental leave on the basis of an employment contract for a minimum of 10 hours per week or on the basis of a self-employed activity.
Full-time parental leave can be requested for a period of 4 or 6 months per child.
You may also take part-time parental leave or split the leave and benefit from partial parental leave. So, if you work at least part-time, with the agreement of your employer, you may take part-time parental leave for 8 or 12 months by reducing your activity by half. If you work full-time, you can reduce your work hours by 20% per week for twenty months, or even take a split leave of four periods of one month, over a maximum twenty month period.
Note that one of the parents must take parental leave immediately after maternity or settling-in leave. If not, this parent loses his/her right to leave (except for parents raising a child alone). The other parent can take the leave until the child is 6 years old (12 years in case of adoption).
What am I entitled to and how can I claim?
To obtain family benefits, you must enter a claim to the CAE using specific forms.
Family allowance
Monthly amount of family allowance: EUR 285.41. This amount is increased by EUR 21.57 for a child over 6 and by EUR 53.85 for a child over 12.
Back to school allowance
Monthly amount of the back to school allowance:
EUR 115 for children aged 6 years and older,
EUR 235 for children aged 12 years and older.
Birth grant
The benefits are divided into three portions of EUR 580.03 each, paid separately and subject to different eligibility conditions (it is possible to gain access to one of these portions without gaining access to the others):
- a prenatal allowance;
- an allowance for the actual birth;
- a postnatal allowance.
Parental leave benefit
The gross monthly amount for parental leave is determined based on your average monthly income in the 12 months before the start of parental leave. The benefit is subject to tax and social security charges, but exempt from sickness allowance and accident insurance contributions.
For a full parental leave of a full time worker, the allowance cannot be less than EUR 2,387.40 per month or more than EUR 3,978.99 per month. Limits vary depending on the average number of hours that you have worked in the 12 months before the start of parental leave.
Jargon busters
- Children’s Future Fund (Caisse pour l’avenir des enfants, CAE): the office which is responsible for establishing and paying the family allowances.
- Legal domicile: be permitted to reside in Luxembourg, and be legally declared through entry in the communal population register and have your main residence in Luxembourg.
- Disabled child: child afflicted by one or more conditions which constitute permanent impairment or decrease of at least 50% of the physical or mental capacity of a healthy child of the same age.
Forms you may need to fill in
Know your rights
The links below provide a legal definition of your rights. They are not European Commission websites and they do not represent the views of the Commission:
- Further information is available in the Luxembourg State administrative guide
- Further information is available on the CAE website
Commission publications and websites:
Who do you need to contact?
Children’s Future Fund (Caisse pour l’Avenir des Enfants)
Address: 34 Avenue de la Porte Neuve L-2227 Luxembourg
Postal Address: BP394 L-2013 Luxembourg
Telephone number: (+352) 47 71 53-1
Contact form: http://www.cae.public.lu/fr/support/contact/formulaire.html