Frequently Asked Questions

If you have already applied for your Maternity Allowance or Starting Amount, then you will automatically receive your Child Benefit or Growth Package following the birth of your child. 
So you need no longer submit an application when your baby is born! Registering the birth of your child with the municipality where you live is sufficient. 

The exact timing of your Child Benefit or Growth Package payments depends on where you live. It’s important to note that your Child Benefit and Growth Package will be paid in the following month, just like your salary or benefits:

For example: you will receive your Child Benefit or Growth Package payments for the month of May around 8 June. 

Growth package in Flanders

You will receive your Growth Package from the month of birth onwards. 
For example: if your child was born on 2 March, you will receive your Growth Package from the month of March. The payment for the month of March occurs on 8 April. 

Child benefit in Brussels and Wallonia

You will receive your Child Benefit in the month following the birth:
For example: if your child was born on 2 March, you will receive your Child Benefit from the month of April. The payment for the month of April occurs on 8 May.

Haven’t yet applied for your Maternity Allowance or Starting Amount? 

Request this quickly and easily online at KidsLife! 

When to submit a Growth Package or Child Benefit application

1. You are new to Belgium and don’t yet receive your Child Benefit or Growth Package
2. You haven’t received Child Benefit or Growth Package payments for more than 1 year.

When NOT to submit a Growth Package or Child Benefit application

1. If you have already applied for the Maternity Allowance or Starting Amount from KidsLife. We automatically pay your Child Benefit and Growth Package following the birth of your child.
2. When moving home
3. If you already receive your Child Benefit or Growth Package in Belgium. Want to become a customer? You can become a KidsLife customer in no time!

Would you like to submit an application?

Apply online quickly and easily here!

 

You form a de facto family if…
… you live with another person at the same address ...
…and you collectively contribute to the household finances ...
…and you’re not a relative up until the third degree ...

In other words, you cannot form a de facto family with your first-, second-, or third-degree relatives (or in-laws), such as your sister, stepbrother, dad, grandmother, or aunt.

You can therefore form a de facto family with your “cousin”. This implies the fourth-degree child of your aunt or uncle.

Thus you needn’t be married or legally cohabiting. Whether you are of the same or a different sex makes absolutely no difference.

Still unsure whether you form a de facto family? Then check this with your KidsLife adviser.

As per 01/01/2019, Child Benefit is known as the Growth Package in Flanders. The Growth Package contains many more allowances than the previous Child Benefit.

Thus, from 2019 onwards, you may also be entitled to a Childcare Allowance, Toddler Allowance and a Study Allowance, in addition to your basic Child Benefit.
If you earn less than a specific threshold amount, then you are still entitled to a supplementary allowance.

Additional allowances for children with a specific support need also remain available. 
Each family automatically receives the allowances to which they’re entitled.

Discover everything you need to know about the Growth Package here!

As of 31 December 2020, the United Kingdom is officially no longer part of the European Union.
This can impact those who live in Belgium but work in the UK (or vice versa) and are receiving Belgian Child Benefit, or intend to apply. A Withdrawal Agreement was negotiated as a transitional measure:

• Were you entitled to Belgian Child Benefit on 31/12/2020 according to the European Regulation conditions that applied at the time? Then this will remain in force from 01/01/2021, providing you continue to satisfy the same conditions.
   
• Were you not entitled to Child Benefit according to the European regulations in force on 31/12/2020, or did you suddenly no longer satisfy those conditions after 31/12/2020? 

In that case, you must comply with the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement in order to retain your Belgian Child Benefit entitlement.

If you do not comply with the provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement, then you will only retain your Belgian Child Benefit entitlement if you live in Belgium and satisfy the general conditions of the region in which you reside (Growth Package in Flanders, Child Benefit in Wallonia and Brussels).

This entirely depends on the children’s place of residence:

The children live in Flanders

Children born prior to 01/01/2019 are entitled to an age supplement that increases at the ages of 6, 12 and 18 years. You can view how much their Child Benefit increases one month following their birthday here. 

Children born after 01/01/2019 no longer receive an age supplement and instead receive a monthly fixed amount of 171,49 euros. 

The children live in Brussels

Brussels children whose families have an annual income of more than 36.001,76 euros gross per year, receive the same amount at every age. This is 160,82 euros per month for Brussels children born prior to 2020, and 172,31 euros per month for Brussels children born after 2020.

If your family has a gross annual income of less than 36.001,76 euros per year, then you will receive increased Child Benefit at the ages of 12 and 18. Calculate the exact amounts for your personal situation here. 

The children live in Wallonia

Children born prior to 01/01/2020 are entitled to an age supplement that increases at the ages of 6, 12 and 18 years. You can view how much their Child Benefit increases one month following their birthday here. 

Children born after 01/01/2020 are not entitled to an age supplement. You will instead receive 178,05 euros per month from birth until the age of 18. Once Walloon children become adults it becomes 189,54 euros per month. 

Would you like to view your Child Benefit or Growth Package composition? Then take a look at My KidsLife, your online Child Benefit file at KidsLife 

Yes! Online applications are completely secure. The details of your online application are not accessible to others. Following submission, even the applicant no longer has access to the completed fields.  As soon as you’ve completed your application, KidsLife will set straight to work. We process the data as specified in our Privacy statement. Got any questions about your data? Or want to change it? Then please contact your KidsLife adviser.

The Ukrainian children are entitled to the Growth Package from the month in which their certificate of temporary protection is received. In practice, the earliest is from March 2022. In Brussels and Wallonia, the payments start from the month following the right of residence . Therefore, the payment will be made from April at the earliest. 

Note: the Growth Package or the Child Benefit for a given month is always paid at the beginning of the following month. We pay the child benefit for March at the beginning of April.  

Example for Flanders.
A Ukrainian family starts to live with a Flemish host family on 28 February 2022. They receive their certificates of temporary residence on 10 March 2022, with which they register in the municipality giving their address as that of the host family. Kidslife receives the application for the Growth Package during the course of April. The file will be opened in May 2022 and we may start to make payments retroactively from March 2022. 

Brussels and Walloon examples
A Ukrainian family starts to live with a Brussels or Walloon host family on 28 February 2022. They receive their certificates of temporary residence on 10 March 2022, with which they register in the municipality giving their address as that of the host family. Kidslife receives the application for the Growth Package during the course of April. The file will be opened in May 2022 and we can start payments retroactively from March 2022. 

View all information for host families here

Yes! We can consider changes to your family circumstances or income from up to 5 years ago. A KidsLife adviser proactively investigates every application to determine your entitlement. That way, KidsLife ensures that you always receive the maximum amount of Child Benefit or Growth Package that you’re entitled to. 
Request an investigation by KidsLife here

Child Benefit in Belgium is composed of different premiums and allowances that you receive from the KidsLife Child Benefit Fund while raising your family. Aren't you receiving Child Benefit in Belgium yet? Our KidsLife adviser, Pierre, will help you get started in this video! Watch it here.