Options for Family Support Benefits

In 2005, family benefits in Austria made up 2.9 percent of GDP, an above-average rate in an international context. The emphasis is clearly on monetary transfers, both direct and indirect, over their in-kind alternatives. Direct monetary transfers (including tax credits for children) made up some 77 percent of total family benefits in 2008, while other tax breaks provided for just under 6 percent and in-kind transfers for over 12 percent of public expenditures on families.