Support for children from lower-income families

Social Allowance in Flanders

The Social Allowance was created to give children from low-income families every opportunity to develop. The amount that you receive depends on your family income and size.
What is the Social Allowance in Flanders?

What is the Social Allowance in Flanders?

The Social Allowance was designed to give children from lower-income families every opportunity to develop. 

  • Your Social Allowance entitlement is based on your family size and income.
  • If you are entitled to the Social Allowance, you will receive it automatically. Therefore, you do not need to submit an application.
  • The Social Allowance payment amount varies between 20,93 euros and 126,66 euros per child per month.

How much is the Social Allowance?

Your Social Allowance payment amount is based on your income and the number of children in your family. Certain income thresholds apply to your family income. In addition to your gross taxable income (or net taxable income for the self-employed), this also includes maintenance payments, cadastral income and income replacement allowances.

 

Family size Income treshold Monthly Allowance
1 or 2 children < 36.325,76 Euros 70,50 Euros per child
1 or 2 children 36.325,76 Euros - 42.380,06 Euros 35,70 Euros per child
> 2 children < 36.325,76 Euros 103,62 Euros per child
> 2 children* 36.325,76 Euros - 68.329,61 Euros 81,54 Euros per child

*only if at least 1 eligible child in the family born from 01/01/2019

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A brief history of the Social Allowance.

In the past, if you were unemployed or incapacitated for work, or a single-parent family, then you were entitled to a Social Allowance.

As of 1/1/2019 and the introduction of the Growth Package, your entitlement to this allowance is no longer linked to your employment status and is now based solely on your family income and size, regardless of whether you are a single parent or not.

This new regulation applies to children born both prior to and after 1 January 2019. An important side note: children born prior to 1 January 2019 will continue to receive the former Child Benefit legislation amounts. And families with an annual income of between 36.325,76 euros and 68.329,61

euros are only entitled to an allowance if a third or subsequent qualifying child is added to the family from 01/01/2019 (*)

More you need to know about the Social Allowance

More you need to know about the Social Allowance

How is your Social Allowance entitlement evaluated?

Your Social Allowance entitlement is calculated automatically based on your family circumstances, the income specified on your tax return and your property ownership status. Your Social Allowance entitlement is reviewed on an annual basis, for the period from 1 September to 31 August of the following year.

We automatically receive your income details from the FPS Finance via your tax return. We always base this assessment on your tax return from 2 years ago.

Example: We investigate your Social Allowance entitlement for the period of 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024 based on the income specified on your tax return for the 2021 tax year.

Your Social Allowance is therefore always awarded on a provisional basis. In this same example, we’ll review the income specified on the 2023 tax year in 2025. At that point, we can evaluate whether the Social Allowance was awarded correctly. The opposite can also apply:

Example: If we deduce that the income specified on your 2020 tax return was too high to entitle you to a Social Allowance, but in 2025 we see that your actual 2023 income was below the permitted threshold amount, then, at that point in time, we can pay your Social Allowance for the period from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024.

What if my current income differs from my income from 2 years ago?

Since we base our calculations on your income from 2 years ago, the Social Allowance is always awarded on a provisional basis. We automatically receive this information from the FPS Finance via your tax return.

It could be that your income from 2 years ago was higher than the Social Allowance entitlement threshold amount. In that case, we’ll be unable to pay a provisional Social Allowance.

Example: We investigate your Social Allowance entitlement for the period of 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024 based on the income specified on your tax return for the 2021 tax year. If your income for the 2021 tax year was too high, then we’ll be unable to pay a provisional Social Allowance. In 2025, we’ll be able to view your 2023 tax return. At that point, we’ll check whether a supplementary Social Allowance can be paid or not, based on your actual 2023 income.

If you already know that your current income is less than your income from 2 years ago, you can:

  • Wait for KidsLife to automatically review your Social Allowance entitlement in 2 years’ time
  • Submit your current income manually via the application form. To do so, please contact your KidsLife adviser or download the application form

Why am I no longer entitled to a Social Allowance when I was in the past?

There are various reasons why you may no longer be entitled to the Social Allowance:

  • Change in your family circumstances.

Example: Lieve receives Child Benefit and a Social Allowance for her 2 children based on her low income. Her partner Peter moves in with her on 12 March. From 1 April, Peter’s income is also included in the Social Allowance entitlement calculation. Lieve and Peter’s combined income is higher than the permitted threshold amount.

  • Your income has increased and is higher than the permitted threshold amount.
  • New method of calculation: unlike the former Child Benefit legislation that applied prior to January 2019, maintenance payments, living wages, income replacement allowances and some forms of cadastral income are now also included in the calculation of your income.
  • The cadastral income test. We factor in your cadastral income when calculating your allowance. We do this if you own property and/or land that you do not reside in/on or do not utilise in a professional capacity. If your cadastral income represents an excessive proportion of your total income, then you’re not entitled to a Social Allowance.

Why am I receiving less Social Allowance than before?

  • Change in the number of children in your family

Example: Ben and Mona have 2 children. Gaston was born in 2019 and Lina in 2021. Ben and Mona’s combined income is less than 36.325,76 euros per annum and they consequently receive a Social Allowance of 103,62 euros per child. On 5 April 2023, Gaston goes to live with his grandparents. Lina is now the only child in Ben and Mona’s family and will consequently be entitled to a Social Allowance of 70,50 euros from 1 May 2023.

  • Other income thresholds.

The new family income calculation may result in you falling into a different category. You may receive less or more Social Allowance as a result.

Example: Emelie has 3 children from a previous relationship. Her youngest child Jules was born in 2019. Based on her income (which is less than 36.325,76 euros, she is entitled to a Social Allowance for her 3 children. Her new partner Suzanne moves in with her on 6 May 2023. From 1 June 2023, Suzanne’s income will also be included in the calculation. Emelie and Suzanne’s combined income is between 36.325,76 euros and 68.329,61 euros. The Social Allowance that Emelie receives for Jules consequently decreases from 103,62 euros to 81,54 euros.

Have a question about your personal circumstances? Then please contact your KidsLife adviser.

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Being a single parent doesn’t automatically entitle you to a social allowance

Your family income must not exceed a certain threshold to be eligible to receive this. The fact that you are a single or divorced parent likely has an influence on your family income. This may make you eligible. 

The threshold amounts and the composition of this Social Allowance depend on where you and your children live: Flanders, Brussels or Wallonia

KidsLife automatically pays your Social Allowance if you are entitled to it! We do this following receipt of your tax return. We always receive this 2 years after the income year. 

Example:
We (re)evaluate your Social Allowance for 2019 in 2021. We receive confirmation of your 2019 income from the federal government in 2021.  

Eligible for this allowance and prefer not to wait 2 years? Contact your KidsLife adviser to submit an application. 

View all of the conditions pertaining to the Social Allowance here

KidsLife assists low-income families by paying them a supplementary allowance: the Social Allowance
The Social Allowance is entirely dependent on your personal situation: your place of residence, your income and your family circumstances.

View all of the conditions that apply to your Social Allowance here

 

If your family income changes, this can affect your entitlement to the social allowance and the selective participation allowance (school allowance). Your entitlement is automatically investigated based on your income from 2 years ago (via your tax return). Suddenly earning significantly more and receiving a social allowance from KidsLife?
 Then please notify us so that we can terminate your social allowance and consequently prevent a potential clawback payment.

Now earning significantly less and not currently receiving a social allowance from KidsLife? Then contact us so that we can send you the relevant form. Please complete this form specifying your income and return it to us, together with the necessary supporting documents.

 

Your family may be entitled to supplementary child benefit in addition to the standard Growth Package and Child Benefit amounts (to which every child is entitled). You can view all types of supplementary child benefit here.

In many cases you needn’t submit a request for supplementary child benefit and we automatically ensure that you receive the correct entitlement. However, you may have to submit a request to KidsLife in certain situations.  Believe that you qualify for an allowance, but aren’t currently receiving it? Then please contact your KidsLife adviser, who’ll gladly assist.

Your local authority automatically notifies us of any changes to your family circumstances via the Crossroads Bank.

Does this change to your family circumstances have an impact on your Child Benefit or Growth Package payments? Your KidsLife adviser will make the necessary adjustments to ensure that you receive the correct payments. 

Want to calculate your entitlement?

Then use our handy simulation tool

Questions about your Social Supplement?

Do you still have questions about your Social Supplement? Our KidsLife advisers are ready to help you. 

Contact your KidsLife advisor