AMS: your childcare allowance now 300 euros for three months
The labour market service AMS has sharply narrowed who can get its childcare allowance, and in Styria the change is already in force. The allowance pays up to 300 euros a month towards a creche, kindergarten or after-school place. In Graz it is now granted only to single parents, and only for a maximum of three months. Until now it could run for up to three years. The regional AMS gives budget constraints as the reason.
The tightening applies at AMS Graz Ost since April and at AMS Graz West and the surrounding area since May. The national rules themselves have not changed. The allowance is a "may" provision, which means there has never been a legal entitlement to it, and the AMS says that given the budget situation restrictions or cancellations are possible. Regional offices have their own discretion, so what happens in one district can differ from another.
The general conditions are unchanged. Your gross monthly income must not exceed 2,700 euros, the child must be under 15, and the child must live in your household. The support is aimed at parents who take up work, increase their hours or attend an AMS training measure and face extra childcare costs as a result. In practice that most often affects mothers returning to work.
The effect is immediate for families already receiving it. One employee in Graz had been getting about 200 euros a month for roughly two years, since returning to work. Her income had not changed and her daughter was still in kindergarten, so she expected the routine six-monthly extension to be a formality. It was refused, and the money stopped.
If you receive the allowance, check the end date on your notice now and do not assume an extension will be granted. Ask your regional AMS office directly what applies in your district, because the practice is not the same everywhere. If you are refused and your situation has not changed, ask for the decision in writing and whether a social hardship exception applies to you.