Child budget

The child budget will start from the month following the birth of your child.

If you already receive a benefit from Dienst Toeslagen, such as rent benefit or healthcare benefit, you do not need to apply for child budget yourself. You will receive a letter automatically from Dienst Toeslagen, stating the amount of the child budget. 

The letter will be sent within 8 weeks of the birth of your child. You will only receive the letter if Dienst Toeslagen sees that your family income is below a certain level. Your partner’s income is also taken into account.

You will need to apply for child budget yourself if:

• you are receiving child benefit for the first time and you do not receive any other benefits from Dienst Toeslagen
• you have not received a letter from Dienst Toeslagen and you think you qualify for child budget

You can only get child budget if you are also receiving child benefit. If your child benefit stops, for example, because your child has turned 18, your child budget will also stop.

If you are co-parenting, you and your ex-partner should decide together what works best for you. The parent with less income can usually get a higher child budget. Child budget is paid to the parent who has claimed the child benefit.

If you do not receive child benefit for a child aged 16 or 17, you may still be able to get child budget. See the conditions below.

If your child lives at home

• Your child benefit stopped because your child left school without a school leaving qualification

• You must contribute at least €512 per quarter to the support of your child, and
• Your child benefit stopped because your child left school without a school leaving qualification

If one of these situations applies to your child, we will inform Dienst Toeslagen that you qualify for child budget again. You do not have to do this yourself.