Government to start paying child benefit of EUR 30-50 next year

“There will be child money starting in 2018, but we have to be realistic about what the state can afford. There is no final decision yet, because we are looking for sources. Today we can speak about an amount of 30-50 euros per child,” Skvernelis said on the Žinių Radijas radio station on Thursday.

“We are speaking about all children, irrespective of their social position. Will there be a higher amount for the third, fifth and subsequent child in order to boost the birth rate? Most probably, there will. But it will definitely not be that amount (100-150 euros),” he said.

The prime minister told reporters on Wednesday that the government expected to table its proposal regarding the planned child benefit by the start of the summer.

Viktoras Pranckietis, the speaker of the Seimas, said on the same day that the monthly allowance should amount to 100-150 euros.

Currently, families with one or two children are eligible for child benefit if their monthly income per member does not exceed 153 euros. Such families receive 28.5 euros monthly if their child is under two years old and 15.2 euros if their child is aged between 2 and 18 years.

Families with three and more children receive these amounts in child benefit regardless of their income.

Also, the non-taxable personal income tax threshold is increased by 200 euros for each child.