My child attends a Dutch-speaking day-care centre or school

Do you live in Brussels and receive Brussels child benefits? If your child attends a Dutch-speaking nursery or school recognized by Flanders, you may be entitled to a participation allowance (participatietoeslag) from the Groeipakket, the Flemish child benefits.

You may be entitled to a childcare allowance (kinderopvangtoeslag), which is a partial financial compensation in the costs of child care.

The allowance amounts to €3,57 per full day of care per child.

You are entitled to it if the following conditions are met:

• Your child attends a day-care centre or nursery in Brussels or Flanders that is recognized by Kind en Gezin.
• The rate does not depend on the parents’ income.
• The child is not yet enrolled in nursery class.

You can then claim the child care increase from FONS, the public child benefits agency in Flanders.

You may be entitled to a school allowance (schooltoeslag) if your child attends a pre-school, primary, or secondary school recognized by Flanders. Students in higher vocational education (HBO5) nursing are also eligible.

You are only entitled to the allowance if your child goes to school regularly, and the family’s income does not exceed a specific threshold.

The amount of the allowance depends on:

• the field of study
• the family situation
• your taxable income
• your cadastral income

You can then claim the child care increase from FONS, the public child benefits agency in Flanders.

Visit www.groeipakket.be, call FONS at 078 79 00 07 or email to welkom@fons.be.