Family benefits
Allowances paid for a child
In Estonia, every child has the right to state support. The right to receive family benefits comes with the birth of a child, adoption or guardianship.
The state benefits are paid by the Estonian Social Insurance Board. In the Social Insurance Board's self-service you can view and manage your benefits and services.
Additional benefits are paid by the local city and municipal government based on your registered place of residence.
Please contact Social Departments in local municipalities or write to general email addresses. The list of local municipalities is available on the webpage of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Important to know concerning this step
The following allowances are available to families with kids in Estonia:
Monthly allowances:
- Child allowance
- Allowance for a family with many children
- Single parent child allowance
- Guardianship allowance
- Parental benefits
- Allowance for multiple birth of three or more children
- Child support for a disabled child
- Disabled parent’s allowance
- Allowance for multiple birth of three or more children
- Conscript’s child allowance
One-time allowances:
The allowances you're entitled to depend on how many kids live with you in Estonia and their ages.
In Estonia, health insurance is guaranteed by the Health Insurance Fund.
The state guarantees health insurance to:
- One parent — in general, to the recipient of the parental benefit or the child care allowance;
- A guardian or person who has concluded a written foster care contract,
- Other persons who receive child care allowance and use parental leave instead of the parents.
Read more about health insurance guaranteed together with national family allowances from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
Child allowance is paid to children until they turn 19 years old. After that, the allowance is paid to children without secondary education who continue their studies until the end of that school year, during which they turned 19 years old.
Read more from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
The large family allowance for families with 3 or more children is paid per family. The recipient is either one of the parents, a guardian, or a custodian.
You do not need to apply for the allowance for a family with many children separately. The allowance is paid to the same parent who receives child allowance. Read more from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
Single-parent child allowance is paid in the same period as child allowance (if your child’s birth certificate or the population register lack data about the child’s other parent, or if your child’s other parent has officially been declared a fugitive). This allowance is paid starting from childbirth, or from the day the parent was declared a fugitive.
Read more from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
You are entitled to the guardianship allowance if you raise a child whose parents do not fulfil their obligation to raise a child and whom the court has appointed under your guardianship.
The right to the allowance starts on the day when the guardianship court decision comes into force. When applied for later, the allowance is paid out retrospectively, but at the maximum, for 6 months before applying. Read more from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
If your child has been diagnosed with a disability, you will be paid social benefits every month. If your child is not coping in an age-appropriate manner, you can apply for a social rehabilitation service for the child.
If your child is not coping in an age-appropriate way, you can apply for a social rehabilitation service for the child.
In addition, parents of disabled children can use child leave until the end of the calendar year when the child turns 14, like other parents, and they can use the parental leave days of the parent of a disabled child until the end of the calendar year when the child turns 18.
Read more on the Social Insurance Board webpage.
If you have a disability and you are raising a child alone, or if both you and your spouse have a disability and your family is raising children, you will be paid a disabled parent's allowance.
Read more from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
If your child is born or to be born in Estonia, then you have the right to different types of parental benefits:
- Maternity benefit is an individual right of the mother.
- Paternity benefit is an individual right of the father.
- Shared parental benefit is a right shared between the parents.
All details will be sent to you in the self-service portal of the Social Insurance Board. You don't have to apply for it separately.
A one-time allowance is paid when a child is born, read more from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
When you adopt a child, you are entitled to a one-time adoption allowance. The allowance is paid to the adopter from whom the child does not descend and who is not the spouse of the child’s other parent. The adoption allowance is not paid if the family has received the childbirth allowance for the same child. Read more from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
Child leave is granted to both employed parents separately and on a per-child basis. Parents have more flexibility and independence in using the child leave — each parent has their own individual days of leave, which they can use independently of the other parent. Moreover, parents also have the opportunity to use their child leave together at the same time. Read more from the Social Insurance Board webpage.
If you are pregnant and are living in Estonia, you must register your pregnancy with your family physician, gynaecologist or midwife no later than the 12th week of pregnancy. After registering your pregnancy, you will have the right to allowances and health insurance.
To find more information about having a child in Estonia, you can read the "Having a baby" article at Eesti.ee portal.
Contacts
Local city and municipal governments serve as your primary points of contact when seeking information about registration of residence, managing and issuing population register data, etc. The largest local government is the capital city, Tallinn, which operates its own distinct city district governments.
The Social Insurance Board is a governmental authority that works to ensure the self-sufficiency and well-being of people in Estonia. We speak Estonian, English and Russian.