With support payments amounting to twelve percent of GDP, Austria is in first place. The data comes from 2019-2022, i.e. before family benefits were valorized. Family Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) sees herself confirmed: “No country in the European Union supports families as much as Austria.”
The study examined the effects of the tax and social benefit systems of all 27 EU countries. Specifically, child-dependent cash benefits were examined in three categories: benefits for families with children, supplementary benefits as part of unemployment, housing or social assistance benefits and measures that control taxes for parents reduce. At the other end of the scale are Spain (4.1 percent), Greece (4 percent) and Ireland (3.2 percent).
The study confirms that Austria’s family policy “supports families in the best possible way with a variety of financial and tax measures and that this mix of measures is very successful,” according to a press release from the Ministry of Family Affairs. Families would particularly benefit from the increase in the Family Bonus Plus, the increase in the additional child allowance and the inflation adjustment of all family benefits.
Read the entire study here.
