My child is a school-leaver in search of employment

Has your child completed or interrupted their studies? They must then register immediately as an unemployed person with Actiris, even if they already have job prospects.

Registration can be done:
• online via the Actiris website
• or by appointment at an Actiris office

After registration, the professional integration period begins. This is the period during which your child is not yet entitled to an integration allowance. However, they may still be entitled to child benefit.

Your child retains the right to child benefit for a maximum of 360 days if they:

• are registered as an unemployed person with Actiris;
• are under 25 years of age;
• are no longer subject to compulsory education;
• are actively seeking work and are therefore not voluntarily unemployed;
• do not work more than 240 hours per quarter.

The 360-day entitlement period for child benefit starts at one of the following moments:

• August 1 following a complete school or academic year,
• the day after studies are interrupted (or the required number of class hours or credits is reducted),
• the day after the end of the second examination period,
• the day after submitting the final dissertation or thesis,
• the day after the end of the apprenticeship contract.

If the young person stops studying in the year of their eighteenth birthday, the 360-day period begins:

• the day after their birthday, if the young person turns 18 before June 30 and stops studying before their birthday,
• the day after the interruption of the studies, if the young person turns 18 before June 30 and stops studying after their birthday (and before June 30),
• from August 1 if the young person turns 18 after June 30.

If your child registers too late with Actiris, the entitlement period for child benefit for a job-seeking school-leaver starts from the registration date. The entitlement period ends 360 days after the mandatory registration date. Your child then loses the right to child benefit for the period they were not registered.

In that case, the right to child benefit ends:

• at the end of the month in which your child stops studying;
• or at the end of the holidays if they attended classes until the end of the school year:
  • 31 August (secondary education)
  • 30 September (higher education)

Yes, but a limit of a maximum of 240 hours per quarter applies.

Does your child work more than 240 hours? In that case, they do not receive child benefit for that quarter.

If they subsequently work fewer hours or stop working, the right to child benefit may resume, provided that the 360-day period has not yet expired.

During the professional integration period of 156 days, Actiris assesses whether the young jobseeker is actively seeking work. If your child receives two positive evaluations during this period, they are entitled to an integration allowance. The right to child benefit then ends.

If your child does not obtain two positive evaluations during this period, they are not yet entitled to an allowance. In that case, child benefit continues to be paid during the initial 360-day entitlement period, provided that all conditions are met.

Has the 360-day period ended and is your child still not entitled to an allowance?
In certain cases, child benefit may still be paid temporarily.

What do you need to do?

Send us a recent evaluation from Actiris.

• Is the evaluation no more than 3 months old? We can then continue to pay child benefit temporarily.
• Is the evaluation too old or missing? Payments are then suspended.

Afterwards, you will need to send us a new evaluation each time so that the entitlement can be reviewed.

Let us know as soon as possible. This will help you avoid having to repay child benefit.

If you have any questions, please contact us.