Parents receive childcare allowance (KBG) for the care of their newborn or toddler. However, instead of relieving families and providing financial security during childcare, the childcare allowance is a reason for despair for many parents. "The groundhog greets the groundhog every day, our experts think to themselves when parents come for childcare allowance counselling," says AK Director Silvia Hruska-Frank.
Harassment in cross-border cases
"If one parent works or lives abroad, there are often major problems with family benefits. Families sometimes have to wait months or even years to receive the benefits to which they are entitled. In the meantime, they are confronted with very complex procedures and sometimes unrealisable demands from the authorities and have problems with health insurance cover," explains Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz. For single parents in particular - often mothers - this leads to situations that threaten their very existence, as the following cases from the Ombudsman's practice show:
A single parent affected by domestic violence waits two years for KBG:
An Austrian woman who had been living with her partner in Germany returned to Austria with her baby due to domestic violence, where she initially lived in emergency accommodation. Only after two years and with the support of the Ombudsman Board did she receive the family benefits to which she was entitled.
Supreme Court rules in favour of AK and Ombudsman Board
In the case of the G. family, which the Ombudsman Board and the AK had already reported on several times, it took eight years and a judgement by the Supreme Court before they received the childcare allowance to which they were entitled.
Despite this, the proceedings continue to be very time-consuming. Achitz: "What the Austrian authorities are doing here - on the clear instructions of the Family Minister - is a gross violation of EU law and of the families concerned."
AK Director Silvia Hruska-Frank: "There are now several Supreme Court judgements. But the Ministry of Family Affairs still refuses to take a humane approach." In all these cases, the enforcing health insurance providers had relied on the working instructions of the Minister for Family Affairs, which have been criticised by the Ombudsman Board for five years as being contrary to EU law and are still in force.
Families need the benefits they are entitled to now
"The long wait for childcare allowance often also leads to problems with health insurance," says Ines Stilling, AK Head of Social Affairs. Those affected repeatedly report that they are told at a doctor's appointment that they are no longer covered by health insurance because the childcare allowance has not yet been paid out.
No income-related childcare allowance due to illness
In the relevant period before the birth, the child must have worked continuously for 182 days; only an interruption of 14 days is possible. In some cases, this leads to results that are difficult to understand and stressful for the families concerned. For example, one mother exceeded the "permitted" 14 days by just three days, during which she received sick pay. She did not receive the income-related KBG, but only the lower Special Benefit I.
It's expensive to be wrong: Too short a period with the wrong KBG variant
The deadline for correcting an error in selecting the KBG variant is still too short: only 14 days from the date of application. However, errors are usually only realised when the notification of benefits is received. One young mother had misunderstood the information during the counselling interview and therefore received the flat-rate instead of the income-related variant - with existential consequences.
No notification, no appeal
Families are informed in informal letters that they do not fulfil the requirements for the income-related childcare allowance and should therefore switch to the - considerably lower - special benefit I within 14 days. There is no further explanation or reference to the possibility of appeal - basic requirements of a constitutional procedure.
AK Director Silvia Hruska-Frank, Ombudsman Bernhard Achitz, AK Head of Social Affairs Ines Stilling
