School Bonus Abolition Squeezes Single Mothers in Belgium

Single mother Evy (47) from Kruibeke, Belgium, is feeling the impact of the Flemish government’s decision to abolish the school bonus for most families. With that 40 euros I could have bought a new pair of shoes for my 7-year-old son, she told VRT NWS. Evy is one of approximately 1.1 million Flemish children whose parents no longer receive the annual school bonus this year.

What Is the School Bonus?

The school bonus is an annual payment within the Flemish Groeipakket child benefit system, designed as a small financial boost at the start of the school year. The amounts vary by age: 23.07 euros for children aged 0-4, 40.38 euros for ages 5-11, 57.68 euros for ages 12-17, and 69.22 euros for ages 18-24, according to Parentia, one of the Flemish child benefit providers.

Last year, more than 1.63 million children in Flanders received the bonus. This year, only about 530,000 children from families receiving a social supplement through the Groeipakket will receive it, as VRT NWS reported. The abolition saves the Flemish government an estimated 50 million euros per year as part of a broader 1.5 billion euro budget savings package agreed in September 2025.

Evy’s Story: Falling Through the Cracks

Evy, an administrative worker who raises her son alone, earns approximately 2,500 euros net per month. She falls outside the income threshold for the social supplement, which requires a gross annual income below 40,701.59 euros for families with 1-2 children to receive the full amount, as explained by Infino.

“I earn just too much for all kinds of premiums, but just too little to get by comfortably at the end of the month,” Evy told VRT NWS. “For most discounts and supplements I am just above the income threshold. That is frustrating. I work full-time, but I have to pay everything with one income.”

Her situation is precarious. “Around the 24th of the month my salary is usually gone,” she said. “The last week I cannot go to the store anymore. Then we eat what is still in the freezer or the pantry. Fresh fruit or yogurt is no longer possible.”

School bills sometimes have to wait. “A school bill sometimes has to wait a month, sometimes several months,” she admitted.

The Budget Context

The school bonus abolition is part of the Flemish government’s September 2025 budget agreement, which required finding 1.5 billion euros in savings to bring the budget deficit down by 2027, as VRT NWS detailed. The measure also includes an increase in the care premium from 64 to 100 euros per year.

The Gezinsbond (Family League), Belgium’s largest independent family organization, has criticized the measure. “September is for families a very expensive month,” spokesperson Lien Swinnen said. The organization calculated that a family with two young children loses over 900 euros in purchasing power per year due to combined measures, as Redactie24 reported.

“All those so-called small amounts do indeed make a big difference,” Swinnen noted, in comments reported by Gazet van Antwerpen via Nieuwskoppen.

The Gap for Working Families

Evy’s story highlights a structural issue: families with moderate incomes who earn too much for various support measures but too little to live comfortably. She falls outside eligibility for the social supplement, the job bonus, and other Flemish government support programs.

“You hear a lot about vulnerable families,” Evy said. “They should certainly be helped. There is also a group that goes to work every day, has to pay everything alone and still has no right to anything.”

The Gezinsbond has also pointed out that the government is cutting the school bonus without reinvesting in what it was intended for. “Now the Flemish government decides to simply scrap the School Bonus for those who have no right to the social supplement without reinvesting it in what it was intended for: children and families,” said Jeroen Sleurs, director of the Gezinsbond, in the organization’s official reaction.

Flemish Minister of Welfare Caroline Gennez (Vooruit) has defended the measures, saying the government is protecting those most in need. “The purchasing power of people who are struggling financially we keep at level, we must strengthen them,” she said. “Child benefit is being indexed again for the first time in a long time, just like the social supplements.”

What’s Next

For Evy, the loss of the 40.38 euro bonus means concrete sacrifices. “With that 40 euros I could have bought a new pair of shoes for my son. Clothes I usually get second-hand, but I find it important that he can go to school with good shoes. Now the bonus falls away, that means a few less shoes.”

She already worries about the future. “I already worry about the costs for secondary school,” she said, noting that school costs in secondary education can reach 1,400 to 1,800 euros per year according to Gezinsbond research.

An alarm bell procedure exists for families who can demonstrate their household income fell below the threshold for at least six consecutive months, allowing them to apply for the social supplement retroactively. The school bonus is separate from the school allowance, which is not being abolished, as VRT NWS clarified.

As families across Flanders prepare for the new school year, the debate over how to support working families continues. “Being a single parent is sometimes also fighting and struggling, especially financially,” Evy said. “I am consciously a single mother and have no regrets about that. I have a good social network of family and friends I can always count on.”