Social aid

Family allowances: the rules change on 1 March

Publié le 02 mars 2026 - Public Service / Directorate of Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Until then, when you had two dependent children, you received an increase in your family allowance when your second child reached the age of 14. If you had at least 3 children, you would benefit from this increase from the age of 14 of your eldest and this increase was applied to each of your children. The age of revaluation of family allowances has been postponed since 1er March.

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Image 1Crédits: Looker_Studio - stock.adobe.com

Family allowances are paid to persons with at least two children under the age of 20.

The amount of benefits you receive varies, depending on your resources and the age of the children you care for. This amount is increased when your children reach a certain age.

Since 1er In March, the age of eligibility for an increase was set at 18 years, compared with 14 years previously. This new provision concerns children born from 1er March 2012.

This means that:

  • if your child was born before 1er March 2012, you receive a monthly increase starting in the calendar month following the age of 14;
  • if your child was born from 1er in march 2012, you will receive a monthly increase starting in the calendar month following the age of 18.

Reminder

If you have 2 dependent children, you will only receive this increase for your second child.

If you have at least 3 dependent children, you will receive them for each of your dependent children reaching the age of eligibility for the child benefit increase.

The the amount of the monthly surcharge depends on your resources ; it is of €75.53, €37.77 or €18.88, per child.

When a child reaches the age of 20, he or she ceases to be counted as a dependent child in the calculation of family allowances. In some cases, you may receive a temporary lump sum allowance to cover the loss of income resulting from the fact that one of your children ceases to be considered “dependent”.

You can find all the necessary information on our sheet on family allowances.

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