State family allowance

Families raising children are entitled to:

1. State family benefit (hereinafter – benefit).
2. Supplement to the state family benefit for a disabled child, regardless of the state family benefit disbursement.

The benefit and supplement can be received by a person:

• who himself/herself and their child permanently reside in Latvia (Latvian citizens, non-citizens, foreigners and stateless persons);
• who himself/herself and whose child have been assigned a personal number.

Is granted:

• to one of the child's parents;
• to the guardian or adoptive parent;
• to the actual caregiver of the child (including the foster family), which has been determined by a decision of the Orphan's Court;
• also to the child itself after the age of 18, if he or she has previously been in out-of-family care.

New condition from January 1, 2022

The benefit is granted to a spouse who is not the child's parent, if the child's parent (the other spouse) has given his or her written consent to receive the benefit, provided that:

• the child's parent and the applicant for benefit have married;
• the parent of the child who agrees that his or her spouse will continue to receive the benefit has been granted the benefit for that child.  

Is not granted:

• if a temporary residence permit has been received in Latvia,

State family benefit amount  

• for one child – EUR 25;
• for two children – EUR 100 (EUR 50 for each child);
• for three children – EUR 225 (EUR 75 for each child);
• for four or more children – EUR 100 for each child.

The total number of children also includes children who are actually raised by the family on the basis of a decision of the Orphan's Court, as well as children adopted and under guardianship.

Amount of the supplement to the state family benefit for a child with disability

• EUR 106.72 per month for each child with a disability

State family benefit

• The benefit is granted for each child raised in the family from the age of one to 16 years.
• If the child continues to attend general or vocational education after the age of 16, the benefit continues to be paid until the age of 20, unless the young person gets married.
• If a child with a disability is brought up, the state family benefit for this child continues to be paid after the child reaches the age of 16, regardless of whether the child is studying or not. The benefit is paid no later than the day the child with disability reaches the age of 20 or marries.

The main conditions for paying the benefit after the age of 16 are:

• For children who have reached the age of 16 and are studying, the SSIA pays the benefit until 30 September. Payment of the benefit is not suspended for the summer months.
• If the child continues to study in the new school year, the benefit continues to be paid from 1 October. The following payment conditions apply if the child is studying up to and including 11th grade.
• If the child is in the 12th grade, which is the final year, the payment of the benefit is discontinued from 1 July.
• The benefit is also paid for children attending vocational education institutions. The payment of the benefit to the students of the graduating year is discontinued from 1 July.
• If the SSIA receives information from the Ministry of Education and Science that the child is no longer studying (for example, he/she has dropped out of school, deducted from the number of students), the benefit is discontinued on the first day of the month following the month in which the child stopped studying.

Examples

If the child is studying abroad, the applicant for the state family benefit must submit a certificate from a foreign educational institution to the SSIA. A document issued by a foreign educational institution must contain information that allows it to be clearly concluded that the person to whom it is issued is studying at a general education or vocational education institution for the period specified in the document.

When submitting documents issued abroad, they must be executed in accordance with the document legalization regulations. If the document is issued in a foreign language, a translation of this document may also be required.

Payment to one of the parents or spouses

The parents agree on which of them will receive the benefit for the child. But, the amount of the benefit will be higher if the benefit for all children is claimed by one of the parents.

If the parents who are raising their two children together receive the benefit separately, the father (EUR 25 per month) receives the benefit for one child and the mother receives EUR 25 per month for the other. From 01.12.2022 one of the parents wants to receive the benefit for both children, because when determining the amount of the benefit, the number of children for whom the particular recipient receives the benefit is taken into account, i.e. for two children the benefit will be EUR 100 per month.

In that case, the following applications must be submitted to the SSIA:

• from one of the parents for refusing to receive the state family benefit in the future;
• from the other parent – an application for the granting of benefit for the child for whom the other parent previously received, but has now refused to receive the benefit.

If there is a family where each of the spouses has children from a previous relationship and each of them receives the benefit for their own children, then from 01.01.2022 it is possible for one of the spouses to receive the benefit for all the children brought up together, including the children of their spouse. In this case, the amount of the benefit will be higher (see Frequently Asked Questions and Examples).  

If the spouses make such a choice, the following applications must be submitted to the SSIA:

• the spouse who receives a state family benefit for his or her child must submit an application for a voluntary waiver of further receipt of the benefit granted to him or her, agreeing to transfer this right to the other spouse in the future;
•  in turn, the spouse who is not the child's parent must submit an application for granting the benefit.

Payment of the benefit shall be discontinued on the first day of the following month. Accordingly, the benefit can only be granted to the other parent or spouse when the payment is discontinued for the other parent of the child or spouse. 

In order for one of the spouses to receive the benefit under the new conditions as of 1 January 2022 for all children brought up jointly, the applications must be submitted to the SSIA by 15 December 2021.

Amount of the supplement to the state family benefit for a child with disability

A supplement to the state family benefit for a child with disability shall be granted if the State Medical Commission for the Assessment of Health Condition and Working Ability (hereinafter – the Medical Commission) has determined a disability for the child.

The supplement is granted from the date of determination of the status of a child with disability until the day the child reaches the age of 18, regardless of the payment of the state family benefit.

If the Medical Commission has prescribed medical indications for a child for the need for special care or for the reimbursement of transport expenses, he or she is entitled to receive:

• Parental benefit for a child with disabilities;
• Benefit for compensating transport costs for disabled persons

The benefit and supplement are paid once a month for the current month (for example: in May for May).

The payment of benefit and supplement is discontinued:

• for the time the recipient of the benefit or the child for whom the benefit was granted is placed in a state, local government or private care institution;
• if the recipient of the benefit or the child for whom the benefit has been granted leaves the Republic of Latvia for permanent residence abroad.

For a spouse who is not the parent of the child, the payment of the benefit and supplement shall also be discontinued if:

• The SSIA has received an application from the child's parent (other spouse) for granting the benefit. For example: wants to receive the benefit in the future for his or her own child or for some other reason;
• the marriage is divorced;
• the spouse who is the parent of the child has deceased;
• the spouse who is the parent of the child has had his or her rights of custody of the child for whom the spouse has been granted a benefit suspended or revoked.

The benefit and supplement can be received by:

• transfer to the account of the beneficiary's credit institution or postal payment system (PNS) of the Republic of Latvia.
• If the benefit has been granted in accordance with an international agreement in the area of social security entered into by Latvia or conditions of the Regulation, and the place of residence of the beneficiary of benefit is in a Member State of EU/EEA or in a contracting state, the benefit may be transferred to a credit institution account of the respective foreign country.

Example.

Granting of an benefit to a spouse who is not the child's parent

Anna and John got married. They are raising 3 children together. Anna has 2 children born in a previous marriage. John has one child from a previous relationship.

Before 31.12.2021.

Anna receives a state family benefit and a supplement for two children who are brought up and receives an benefit of 44.14 euros per month.

John – 11.38 euros per month.

Total for family: 55.52 euros

From 01.12.2022

By submitting the application to the SSIA, John refuses to receive the further benefit and agrees that Anna will receive it in the future. Anna, on the other hand, requests the benefit. The amount of the new benefit for 3 children is 225 euros per month, 75 euros for each child.

If such a choice is not made and they continue to receive benefits separately, then Anna will receive 100 euros, but John 25 euros. The total for the family will be 125 euros.

Question

Can an application for state family benefit be submitted only after the child has reached the age of 1?

The answer

Irrespective of the fact that the state family benefit is granted from the age of one, one of the child's parents can claim this benefit immediately after the birth of the child, so that later, in the care of the child, he or she does not forget to do so.

For example: an application for state family benefit may be submitted together with an application for childcare benefit or childbirth benefit.

The benefit will be granted and paid by the SSIA from the date from which you are entitled to receive it.

Examples of how state family benefit is paid for children who continue to study after the age of 16

Example 1: Dace finished the 9th grade this year and will continue studies in high school. The SSIA will pay the benefit until September 30 and this autumn, at the beginning of the new school year, after receiving information from the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) that Dace will continue to study in the 10th grade of high school – will continue to pay the state family benefit. The benefit will also be paid if Dace continues her education at a vocational school.

Example 2: Edgars is 19 years old. He finished 12th grade this year. In the next school year, he will learn the profession of carpenter in a vocational education institution. The SSIA paid the state family benefit for Edgars until June 30. At the beginning of the new school year, receiving information from the MES that Edgars is studying at a vocational school, the SSIA will grant the benefit for July and August and will continue to pay it for the new school year while Edgars is studying, but not beyond the age of 20.

Example 3: John studies at a vocational education institution, acquiring a 4-year education. This year he completed the 1st year. The SSIA will pay the state family benefit for John until September 30. At the beginning of the new school year, receiving information from the MES that John continues to study in the 2nd year of this educational institution, the SSIA will continue to pay the state family benefit.

Question

Is the benefit paid if the child is studying at a higher educational institution?

The answer
No, the state family benefit is not paid if the child is studying at a higher educational institution.

Question

If the child for whom the state family benefit is received has his or her 20th birthday on October 15, for what period will the benefit be paid?

The answer
The benefit in October will be paid for the period from 1 October to 14 October (inclusive), i.e. for the October days before the 20th birthday. The benefit is calculated in proportion to the number of days. For example, if the amount of the benefit is 25 euros per month, for days before 14 October it will be paid (25:31) x 14 = 11.20 euros.