Dutch child benefit
If you become a resident of the Netherlands or start living and working here, you will automatically be covered under the Dutch social insurance system. You will build up rights to a Dutch state pension (AOW) and you will qualify for child benefit. The insurance in your home country where you lived or worked previously will probably end.
Child benefit covers most residents
Child benefit is a state contribution to the cost of raising children up to the age of 18 years. The contribution is independent of your income and available for parents living and/or working in the Netherlands, with a few notable exceptions (see below).
You qualify for the child benefit if you bring up and care for a child of your own, but also:
- an adopted child;
- a foster child;
- a stepchild;
- another child you bring up and care for as your own.
Exemptions from Dutch child benefit
Parents living and working in the Netherlands may be eligible for child benefit. The exceptions are if:- You work in the Netherlands and are covered by social security insurance in another country
- You are studying but not working in the Netherlands
- You work for an international organization located outside the Netherlands. You primarily transport people or goods outside the Netherlands
- You are seconded to the Netherlands as a non-Dutch staff member for administrative, technical or service tasks for a diplomatic mission or consular post to the Netherlands, working here for less than 10 years
- You work outside the Netherlands without a statement of secondment
- You work for an employer located outside the Netherlands or you are self-employed for business activities outside the Netherlands, even though you live in the Netherlands.
Representatives of diplomatic missions or consular posts to the Netherlands and civil workers of international treatment organizations may still qualify for the Dutch child benefit.
Applying for Dutch child benefit
To apply for Dutch child benefit, register your child with your local municipality (see under Expat in the Netherlands/Arrival and Registration). After registration, the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) will send you a letter within 3 to 6 weeks. With this letter, you can register for child benefit through the DiGiD portal.Payments
Child benefit is paid four times per year, at the end of each quarter, by the Social Verzekeringsbank (SVB). The amount of child benefit depends on the age of children and where they live. Child benefit rises when your child turns 6 years old, and again at 12. More information can be found on the Social Verzekeringsbank (SVB) website.
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