Reminder of the basic principles
If you live in Wallonia:
- You receive unconditional family allowances until the end of August of the year you turn 18.
- From 18 to 21, your right to family allowances becomes “semi-automatic”.
This means that your situation is out of control. However, certain situations prevent benefits. This is the case, for example, if you work more than 240 hours per term, outside the student contract.
- From 21 to 25 years old, you will have to justify your situation (studies, work-study training, socio-professional internship, etc.) via the form sent to you by the family allowance fund.
- Your right to family allowances ends when you reach the age of 25, even if you are still studying or on an integration course.
You finish high school, and then…
You decide to pursue studies
Bachelor’s-Master’s type
- You must be registered before November 30 of the school year
- You will have to follow a course of at least 27 credits
In an unrecognized education
- Attention, since 01/08/2022, any registration in this type of education no longer allows the granting of family allowances.
You want to follow a training
Entrepreneur
- You must register with a continuing education center.
- You must have at least 17 hours of lessons or compulsory internship per week.
Part-time education (work-study type)
- You must sign a work-study contract in the French Community.
- The contract must be recognized by a middle class training center, such as IFAPME, or by an integration service for people with disabilities such as AVIQ.
- There is no longer any income limit for work in the context of work-linked training.
You want to study abroad
During the period of your studies abroad, you must remain domiciled in Belgium or the employer of your parent(s) who works on secondment abroad must have its registered office in Belgium. Belgium.
- You are taking part in an exchange program as part of a European “Erasmus” type project.
- You benefit from a scholarship from a Belgian or foreign institution.
- You are studying in a country outside the European Union which has concluded a bilateral agreement with Belgium.
- You live abroad with at least one of your parents who works on secondment outside Belgium but who remains subject to Belgian social security.
- You are pursuing higher education in a country outside the European Economic Area: 1. You benefit from family allowances for a maximum of one school year after your secondary school diploma in Belgium. 2. You receive family allowances for a maximum of one school year after your higher education in Belgium.
Are you in a situation not listed above? The Minister of Social Affairs can also grant an exception to the rule and determine the conditions, the amount and the period for granting family allowances.
You don’t want to continue your studies
If you register as a jobseeker with FOREM, you can continue to receive your family allowances during the period of professional integration under certain conditions:
- You are under 25
- You are no longer subject to compulsory education
- Your income is less than €759.28 gross per month
- You work less than 240 hours per quarter
The start of the 360-day period is calculated based on the following situations:
- August 1 after a full academic year
- The day after the end of your second exam session or the submission of your dissertation
- The day after the end of the apprenticeship contract or the internship contract.
If you have not obtained two positive evaluations from FOREM, your integration course may be extended by six months.
You will retain your right to family allowances during this extension.
Of course, as soon as you find a job as an employee or self-employed as your main activity, your family allowances end. The same is true when you start receiving unemployment benefits.