• Children's allowance rises by €250 per child
• Parents to get €1,500 if 16-year-old continues studies
• First-time baby bonus rises to €500, second to €1,000
• Extra €50 per child for parents eligible for 'in-work' benefit

Children’s allowance will rise by €250 per child for all children next year, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana has announced in the Budget speech. 

It is a significant increase when compared to the previous budget when the allowance went up by €90. This year it will increase by almost three times as much.

The measure will affect more than 41,000 families and 62,000 children and will cost the government €15.5 million.

The top-up of the children’s allowance was part of the Labour Party’s electoral manifesto, for last year’s general election.

Originally, the government promised to top up the children’s allowance by €90-a-year throughout the next five years under a Labour government. 

Yet, addressing the House on Monday evening, Caruana said that the government felt that they needed to accelerate the measure to support Maltese families. 

He said since the Labour government introduced the children's allowance measure 50 years ago, this is the biggest increase in the measure has seen. 

Children's allowance is provided to parents until their children turn 16, except in special cases when families' income is low, where a special allowance is given until the child reaches the age of 18.

€500 for parents whose 16-year-olds continue full-time study

He also announced a "special" allowance for parents whose children continue their education past the mandatory age.

In Malta, school attendance is compulsory up to the age of 16.

The special allowance will be €500 per year for three years, as long as the children continue to live with their parents and are full-time students. 

The benefit will be given to parents whose children have started the first year of their post-secondary education at the current scholastic year and are paid at the end of it.

The minister said that this measure will affect 4,800 families in the first year, which will rise to almost 15,000 families in three more years. 

The measure will cost the government €7.5 million.

Birth and adoption bonuses increase

Caruana also spoke of other bonuses, such as the birth and adoption bonuses.

Anyone who has a baby or adopts will receive a €500 bonus, an increase of €100.

Parents who have a second baby will get €1,000, which is an increase of €600.

The measure, Caruana announced, will affect 3,200 families. 

Caruana also mentioned that the eligibility for parenting credits provided by Social Security will be widened. 

Parents whose careers had to take a step back to build a family can benefit from Social Security contributions for each of the first three children they raised. 

He said from next year, this benefit will be extended to parents who first build a family and then enter the work force- as currently, they are not entitled to such parenting credits.

The minister also announced improvements to the In-Work Benefit for eligible working parents with an increase of €50 per child.