The state social support is regulated by Act no. 117/1995 Coll., on State Social Support, as amended. Under this Act, the following benefits are available:
- child allowance
- housing allowance
- parental allowance
- birth grant
- funeral grant
Child allowance
Child allowance is a basic long-term benefit provided to families with dependent children. A dependent child up to the age of 26 years, living in a family with an income of less than 3.4 times the family’s living minimum is entitled to this allowance.
The allowance is provided in three levels, depending on the age of the child´s age and in two amounts according to sorts of income. Eligibility for the increased amount is determined by having income from employment or from certain social benefits.
| Age of the dependent child | Monthly amounts of child allowance in CZK | |
|---|---|---|
| Basic amount | Increased amount | |
| up to 6 years of age | 830 | 1330 |
| from 6 to 15 years | 970 | 1470 |
| from 15 to 26 years | 1080 | 1580 |
Housing allowance
Property owners or tenants having residence in that property are entitled to a housing allowance if 30% of family income is insufficient to cover housing costs and at the same time this 30% of family income is lower than the relevant prescriptive costs set by law.
The prescriptive housing costs are set as average housing costs based on the size of the municipality and the number of members of the household. They include a rent and similar costs for residents of cooperative flats and flat owners. They also include the cost of services and energy. Prescriptive housing costs are calculated on the basis of reasonable sizes of flats for the number of persons permanently residing in them.
The level of housing allowance is set as the difference between prescriptive housing costs and the relevant family income multiplied by a coefficient of 0.30.
Parental allowance
Children born before December 31, 2023
A parent who personally and duly cares for a child who is the youngest in the family is entitled to parental allowance. Parental allowance is provided until the total amount of 300,000 CZK is drawn, maximum up to 4 years of child’s age. In the case of twins or more children born at the same time, the total amount extends to 450,000 CZK.
Children born from January 1, 2024
A parent who personally and duly cares for a child who is the youngest in the family is entitled to parental allowance. Parental allowance is provided until the total amount of 350,000 CZK is drawn, maximum up to 3 years of child’s age. In the case of twins or more children born at the same time, the total amount extends to 525,000 CZK.
A parent may elect the amount of parental allowance and thus the period of its drawing. The monthly amount of parental allowance is calculated based on daily assessment base for determination maternity benefit or sickness benefit related to child’s confinement or adoption according to the act on sickness insurance. If at least one parent in a family is a person participating in sickness insurance, the amount of parental allowance can get to 70 % of 30 multiple of daily assessment base (in 2024 57,060 CZK at the most). When the daily assessment base can be determined for both parents, the higher one is used for calculation. If the daily assessment base cannot be set for any parent, parents may elect the monthly amount up to 13,000 CZK. In the case of twins or more children born at the same time the monthly amounts are adjusted relevantly. Choice of the amount of parental allowance can be changed once in 3 months.
A parent is entitled to parental allowance provided:
- a child under the age of 2 years attends a child group or other facility for pre-school children for a maximum of 120 hours in a month;
The parent’s income is not tested; the parent may carry out an occupational activity without losing their entitlement to parental allowance. However, during the period of this occupational activity, the parent must ensure that the child is in the care of another adult.
Birth grant
This is a one-off benefit for low-income families to help them to cover cost related to the birth of their first and second live-born child. Families are entitled to the birth grant provided the family income in the calendar quarter prior to the birth of the child does not exceed 2.7 times the family’s living minimum. The birth grant amounts to 13,000 CZK for the first child and 10,000 CZK for the second child.
Funeral grant
The funeral grant is a one-off payment to a person who has arranged for the funeral of a dependent child, or to a person who was the parent of a dependent child, on condition that the deceased was a permanent resident of the Czech Republic on the date of death, or to a fetus after abortion of termination of pregnancy for medical reasons.
The amount of the funeral grant is a fixed sum totalling 5,000 CZK.
Applying for benefits
Applications for state social support benefits are handled by the contact points of the Regional Branches of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic based on the (permanent) residence of the person entitled to the benefit (the eligible applicant).
Applications for benefits are submitted on forms prescribed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. The addresses of the Regional Branches of the Labour Office of the Czech Republic can be found at https://www.uradprace.cz/kontakty-2. The application forms are available from https://www.mpsv.cz/formulare.
The appellate body is the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
Entitlement to benefits
Persons – Czech citizens and foreigners - have a right to benefits if they and the family/household members assessed jointly with them are registered as permanently resident in the Czech Republic and have their residence here. For non-EU foreign nationals, the registration as permanently resident in the Czech Republic is considered to be the period once 365 days have passed since the date they registered to stay in the Czech Republic. This does not include any period during which a person is seeking asylum. Act No 117/1995 Coll. on State Social Support stipulates other persons eligible for state social support benefits, if they have their residence in the Czech Republic. In the range of persons covered, there are also EU nationals who are subject of directly applicable legislation of the EU.
Entitlement to the payment of benefits expires
once three months have passed since the date to which the benefits apply. In the case of one-off benefits, an entitlement expires one year as of the date to which the benefit applies.
Income
decisive for an entitlement to state social support benefits includes, in particular, income from dependent activity (employment), income from entrepreneurship or other self-employment, sickness and pension scheme benefits, unemployment benefit, including similar income from abroad. Net income is taken into account in the decisive income.
Family
for the purposes of state social support consist of parents and dependent children if they reside jointly and cover costs of their needs in common. Dependent children are children up to the end of compulsory school attendance and beyond, if they undergo further education or vocational training, or if they are disabled, but up to a maximum of 26 years of age. In the case of housing allowance, all persons registered as permanently resident in the flat are jointly assessed and the condition of covering costs of their needs in common is not requested.
Contacts
Labour Office of the Czech Republic – Regional Branches and the Branch for the Capital of Prague
www.uradprace.cz
Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
Department of Social and Family Policy
Na Poříčním právu 1, 128 01 Praha 2
Tel.: +420 221 921 111 www.mpsv.cz, e-mail: posta@mpsv.cz