Social Security – Family Benefits

Definitions

Allottee: 'allottee' means the person who is entitled to a family allowance (FA) through his or her work (or similar).
The allottee must also be related to the beneficiary child. In most cases, it is the child's father.

Recipient: 'recipient' is understood to mean the person to whom the FA is actually paid. In most cases, this is the child's mother.

Beneficiary: this is the child in respect of whom the FA is paid.

Any employer who employs one or more people is subject to the legislation on FA.
He is obliged to become affiliated to a fund for salaried employees (= FA Fund) of his choice within 90 days of the date of entry into service of the first worker.

The worker must be employed in the service of an employer that is subject to Belgian social security (ONSS). He must also be employed in Belgium in the service of an employer or of a place of business established in Belgium or abroad for an employer with a place of business in Belgium and unable to claim FA in the country in which he works.

The employment must be on not less than a half-time basis.

For information, other people may also be allottees, providing certain conditions are respected. These allottees include unemployed persons, persons in prison, students and the disabled. The age limit for FA is 25 years (subject to certain conditions).

Family allowance rates

Two types of allowance are granted: family allowance proper and childbirth allowance.

1) Family allowance

An Act of Parliament of 22 December 1989 introduced the principle of an FA amount identical for all (= base amount) regardless of the volume of the work performed by the allottee (but dependent on the child's position in the family (first, second, third child, etc.)). However, these basic allowances are subject to various increases, namely:

• supplements granted according to the age of the children
• supplements granted to certain categories of person; these are designed to take account of the de facto situation of families in which the child is raised, or are granted to assist with specific difficulties (e.g. increased rates for children of unemployed persons, invalids, pensioners, orphans, etc.)
• supplements granted, under certain conditions, to disabled children (up to the age of 21).

2) Childbirth allowances

Any child who provides an entitlement to a family allowance also provides an entitlement to a childbirth allowance. The child's position in the family determines the amount of the birth allowance.

No rights can be derived from this text.

Text last edited on: 08/2006

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2007
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