Minister of National Economy and Finance Kostis Hatzidakis and Minister of Social Cohesion and Family Sofia Zacharaki announced on Monday during a press conference the increase in the birth allowance from 400 to 1,500 euros.
This increase will have a retroactive effective as it will also apply to births occured in 2023. More specifically, for the first birth the amount increases from 2,000 to 2,400 euros, for the second to 2,700 euros (+700 euros), for the third to 3,000 euros (+1,000 euros) and for those with many children to 3,500 euros (+1,000 euros). The allowance is expected to be granted in April in two equal installments.
Hatzidakis clarified that the amounts of approximately 90 million euros come from the savings resulting from the measures for freelancers. The new measure concerns approximately 300,000 families over the course of two years.
The minister stated that since the economy is on a good trajectory, the government can support such social measures. He added that this year there are 7 new measures for new parents. Specifically, the increase by 1,000 euros of the tax-free threshold, the increase of the maternity allowance from 4 to 9 months, the increase of the heating allowance from 3,000 to 5,000 euros for each child, the social allowance, the reform of the payroll in the public sector and the profit cap on baby formula.