Family allowances in Belgium
Belgium regionalised its Family Allowances (Groeipakket in Flanders, Kindergeld in Wallonia/Brussels) in 2019. Base amounts between €175 and €200/month per child by region and age, with social top-ups, back-to-school grant and birth/adoption grant.
Regionalised since 2019: Groeipakket in Flanders, Kindergeld in Wallonia/Brussels, AfwiK in German-speaking Community. Base €175–200/month + social top-ups by income. Birth grant €1,313–1,776, annual school grant. 15-week maternity leave at 75–82%, 20-day paternity (2021 reform).
Regionalised family allowances
Since 2019, each Region runs its own scheme:
- Flanders (Groeipakket): €184/month per child (universal), +20% from 3rd child
- Wallonia (Kindergeld): €187/month (children born after 2020), €175/month (before 2020)
- Brussels (Kindergeld): €187/month (children born after 2020)
- German-speaking Community (AfwiK): €195/month
- All paid monthly by accredited Family Allowance Funds
Social top-ups
For low-income families:
- Flanders: +€52 to +€84/month/child by income and number of children
- Wallonia/Brussels: top-ups by bands (income < €33,500: ~€52/month; < €47,200: ~€22/month)
- Single-parent bonus: +€24 to +€57/month
- Disabled child bonus: +€90 to +€566/month by degree
Birth / adoption grant
- Flanders (Startbedrag): €1,313 for 1st child, €968 for subsequent
- Wallonia: €1,313 for 1st child, €968 for subsequent
- Brussels: €1,776 for all children
- Paid 2 months before expected birth date
Annual top-up — school grant
Paid in August for back-to-school:
- 0–3: ~€22–32
- 4–11: ~€33–66
- 12–17: ~€57–110
- 18+: ~€65–149
- Paid automatically with August allowance
Maternity leave — Confinement leave
Managed by INAMI:
- 15 weeks (6 before + 9 after, of which 1 mandatory before + 1 after)
- 1st month: 82% of salary (capped)
- Following months: 75% (capped at ~€3,040/month)
- + 2 weeks for multiple births
- + 2 weeks for complications
Paternity / birth leave — 20 days (2021 reform)
Progressively extended since 2021:
- 20 working days (vs 10 before)
- First 3 days: 100% of salary (employer)
- Days 4–20: 82% of salary (INAMI, capped)
- To use within 4 months of birth
- Also available for co-parental spouse
Nurseries and childcare
Subsidised nurseries:
- Flanders (Kind en Gezin): income-modulated fees (€5–31/day)
- Wallonia/Brussels (ONE): PSE/MCAE nurseries, modulated fees (€1.80–39/day)
- Childcare cost tax deduction: €14/day per child under 14 (2025)
- “Plan Cigogne” programmes to increase nursery places
How Illizeo helps on the HR side
Illizeo is not a consulting firm or a paying body. However, our HR layer manages all of an employee’s family variables: family composition (dependent children, ages), supporting documents, event declarations (birth, adoption), leave workflows (maternity, paternity, parental) with key date calculations, and automatic feed to your payroll software.
Official sources
Manage the HR side of family allowances
From birth declarations to parental leave calculation, Illizeo centralises variables and feeds your payroll automatically.
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