Product Code Database
Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of , teenagers and in some cases, young adults. Countries operate different versions of the benefit. In most child benefit is means-testing and the amount paid is usually dependent on the number of children.
On 1 July 2000 the Australian government introduced major changes to the tax system including the introduction of a broad-based Goods and Service Tax (a VAT), substantial income tax cuts, as well as major changes to assistance for families.
These changes to family assistance simplified payments, by amalgamating a number of different forms of assistance, and also provided higher levels of assistance, with reductions in income test withdrawal rates. The new structure combined twelve of the pre-existing types of assistance into three new programs of assistance. The two most important of these are Family Tax Benefit Part A, which assists with the general costs of raising children, and Family Tax Benefit Part B, which is directed to single income and sole parent families. The third programme is Child Care Benefit.
The Family Tax Benefit Part A is paid for dependent children up to 20 years of age, and for dependent full-time students up to the age of 24 (who are not getting Youth Allowance or similar payments such as ABSTUDY and Veterans' Children Education Supplement). It is essentially a two-tier but integrated payment directed to most families with children, with a higher rate for lower income families, including both those in work and receiving income support.
The maximum rate is paid up to a family income of $28,200, and is then reduced by 30 cents for every extra dollar of income, until the minimum rate is reached. Part-payment at the minimum rate is available up to a family income of $73,000 (plus an additional $3,000 for each dependent child after the first). Payments are then reduced by 30 cents in every dollar over that amount until the payment reaches nil.
To receive some Family Tax Benefit Part A, the maximum income levels are $76,256 a year for a family with one dependent child under 18 and $77,355 a year for a family with one dependent 18- to 24-year-old. These thresholds are lifted by $6,257 for each additional dependent child under 18 and $7,356 for each additional dependent 18- to 24-year-old.
Families receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A may also be eligible for extra payments, such as Rent Assistance if renting privately, the Large Family Supplement for four or more children, and Multiple Birth Allowance for three or more children born during the same birth.
Family Tax Benefit Part B provides extra assistance to single income families including sole parents - particularly families with children under 5 years of age. In a couple, if the secondary earner's income is above $1,616 a year, payments are reduced by 30 cents for every extra dollar of income. Parents receive therefore some Family Tax Benefit Part B if the secondary earner's income is below $10,416 a year if the youngest child is under 5 years of age, or $7,786 a year if the youngest child is between 5 and 18 years of age. There is no income test on the primary earner's income, so in the case of sole parents the payment is universal.
The previous entry referred to Youth allowance and Parenting Payment. These are income support payments for young people and for parents who are not employed and looking after children respectively.
This amount is reduced for families with adjusted family net income (AFNI) over $31,120, based on AFNI and the number of children.
| + Child benefit allowances in Finland starting from 1 Jan 2024. | |
| 94,88 €/month | |
| 104,84 €/month | |
| 133,79 €/month | |
| 173,24 €/month | |
| 192,69 €/month | |
| Single parents supplement for every child 73,30 euros. Children under 3 supplement 26€ | |
| ! style="width:5%;" Number of children ! style="width:10%;" | Monthly amount pro child for one parent in double parent household ! style="width:10%;" | Monthly amount pro child for single parent household |
| 1 child | 12,200 HUF (32.49 €) | 13,700 HUF (36.48 €) |
| 2 children | 13,300 HUF (35.41 €) | 14,800 HUF (39.41 €) |
| 3 or more children | 16,000 HUF (42.60 €) | 17,000 HUF (45.27 €) |
If the child misses more than 50 school hours without permission, the family allowance will be suspended until the child re-fulfills his/her school attendance obligation properly. In the case of pre-school age children, family allowance will be suspended in case of an unjustified absence exceeding 20 days of education.
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| ! style="width:5%;" Number of children ! style="width:10%;" | Monthly maximal tax saving pro child for one parent |
| 1 child | 10,000 HUF (26.63 €) |
| 2 children | 20,000 HUF (53.25 €) |
| 3 or more children | 33,000 HUF (79.88 €) |
People get family allowance and family tax benefit at the same time, so it is also common to count them together as a kind of child benefit.
| €140.00 |
Fraudulent claims of Child Benefit are treated very seriously, and can result in large fines or prison for up to 3 years.
When a child is 6 years old, the amount increases to €322.53 per month.
When a child is 12 years old, the amount increases to €356.43 per month.
The family allowance is paid until the child is 18, unless they continue in education, in which case it is paid until the adult child ceases being enrolled at an educational institution or is 25 years old, whichever happens first.
The allowance is €115 every August per child over 6 years old and under 12 years old.
The allowance is €235 every August per child over 12 years old until their schooling comes to an end.
In 2021, the amount per child per month is: 74.46 euros for children aged 0 to 5 years; 80.41 euros for children aged 6 to 11 years; 106.37 euros per month for children from 12 to 17 years.
In comparison to Netherlands, its neighbour Germany pays 3 times more per month with lower income tax.
Kindgebonden budget
In addition to these general child benefits, there's a benefit depending on household income. For a household income up to 70.000 (single) or 99.000 (two parents), the "kindgebonden budget" is (2021) up to:
| ! style="width:5%;" Number of children ! style="width:5%;" | Monthly maximal kgb |
| 1 child | 100.33 € |
| 2 children | 185.50 € |
| 3 children | 262.08 € |
| Additional children | 76.58 € |
Inkomensafhankelijke combinatiekorting
If a household has a child less than 12 years of age and the parent with the lowest income has an income of more than 5.154 euro per year (2021), he or she receives a tax deduction of up to 2.815 euro per year (234,58 per month, 2021).
In 2018, the Sixth Labour Government introduced a new universal BestStart Payment of $60 per week for parents with newborn dependents.
Another form is direct payment for parents. The programme, named Family 500+ has been introduced in 2016 was created by the PiS government. Initially it was only for parents of more than one child, and the payment was 500 PLN (€116) monthly per child. The benefit base was a number of children minus one. Later on in 2019 it's been simplified and made more common: the benefit is paid for each child. From the very beginning the rate is constant and is PLN 800 (€187) monthly per child. The payment is not a subject of any income tax (e.g. cannot increase your income to excess the limit mentioned in above paragraph) and is paid unconditionally for children up to 18 years.
There is no research that proves any birth rate increase due to any of these forms of support.
From January 2022, 2 million won will be immediately paid to anyone giving their first birth in South Korea and the cash can be used for any purpose on top of receiving all of the various aforementioned benefits. 3 million won will be given for the second and further child. In addition, the additional bonus cash given to newborn babies aged 0-11 months will be raised to 1,000,000 won per month, and babies aged 12-23 months will receive 500,000 per month. Each parent will receive a paid holiday of up to 3 million won per month each for 3 consecutive months. Low income families who have a third child will have their children's university education fully paid for free by the Korean government.
The system was first implemented in August 1946 as "family allowances" under the Family Allowances Act 1945, at a rate of 5 Shilling (= £0.25) per week per child in a family, except for the eldest. This was raised from September 1952, by the Family Allowances and National Insurance Act 1952, to 8 s (= £0.40), and from October 1956, by the Family Allowances Act and National Insurance Act 1956, to 8 s for the second child with 10 s (= £0.50) for the third and subsequent children.
By 1955, some 5,000,000 allowances were being paid, to about 3,250,000 families. Whitaker's Almanack: for the year 1958, p. 1127. J. Whitaker & Sons, London, 1957
It was modified in 1977, with the payments being termed "child benefit" and given for the eldest child as well as the younger ones; by 1979 it was worth £4 per child per week. In 1991, the system was further altered, with a higher payment now given for the first child than for their younger siblings. In October 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government announced that Child Benefit would be withdrawn from households containing a higher-rate taxpayer from January 2013. "Spending Review, October 2010, United Kingdom HM Treasury, Oct 2010. After some controversy, this was amended so that any household with at least one person with prescribed income over £50,000 would lose Child Benefit by a taper which removed it altogether when the income reached £60,000. This came into force on 7 January 2013. "HMRC High Income Child Benefit charge
Today, child benefit is administered by His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). , payment rates are £26.05 per week for the first or only child (including the eldest of a multiple birth) and £17.25 per week for each additional child.
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