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Child benefits for children living with their families

Child benefits are regular payments made by public authorities, usually to the parents of children up to a certain age.

Please note that in many Member States, other specific types of benefits may also be provided, such as maternity and large family allowances, rent subsidies, scholarships or disability allowances.


View full dataset in data explorer.

Key aspects

  • In most Member States, the regular cut-off age for child benefits is 18 years. This is the case in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Spain.
  • The age of 16 years is set as a limit in Estonia, Hungary, Malta, Portugal, Sweden and the United Kingdom; in Croatia and Latvia, this age is 15 years, and in Finland 17 years. The lowest cut-off age is seven years in Lithuania, while the highest is 20 years in France. In Lithuania, the cut-off age rises to 18 years for families with three or more children, while in Estonia it rises to 19 years if the child is enrolled in secondary education.
  • In Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Italy, Poland, Portugal and the United Kingdom, child benefits depend on the parents’ incomes.
Downloads
19 October 2018
Excel file: Minimum age requirements concerning children's rights in the EU - Country data on social rights, employment, education, alternative care, LGBTI and mobility (406.5 KB)