Last year, 121 million euros in family allowances were transferred to 63,422 children being raised abroad, Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Monday, quoting figures from Famifed, the federal agency for family allowances. Close to three-quarters of these children live in France and the Netherlands, with Poland in third place.
Family allowances are transferred, in principle, to the places where the children live. However, they are sometimes granted to children who do not live in Belgium when one of the parents works or receives Belgian social security.
This is especially the case if the child resides in a European Union (EU) member State, Norway, Liechtenstein or Iceland. There are also bilateral agreements with countries outside of Europe, such as Turkey.
On the other hand, some Belgians work overseas while their families remain in Belgium. In such cases, the country where they work pays social security allowances for their children.
In 2016, for example, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg paid out 87.34 million euros for Belgian children, according to Famifed.
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The Brussels Times
