Family benefits in Austria, as a percentage of GDP, slightly exceed the OECD average. Monetary benefits largely dominate benefits
in kind, although their share has decreased markedly since 2000. At the same time, several reforms within the monetary benefit
system have encouraged fathers' involvement and improved the reconciliation of work and family for both parents. Austrian
family benefits, in a narrower definition, have increased from 6.6 billion € in 2000 to nearly 10.3 billion € in 2016. At
a ratio of 2.9 percent of GDP in 2016, family benefits have edged down from 3.1 percent in 2000 and have virtually stagnated
since 2006. Since the population up to age 19 is in secular decline, per-capita family benefits follow a long-term upward
trend, rising from 3,540 € per child in 2000 to almost 6,000 € nominal in 2016.
Keywords:Family policy, family benefits, child care facilities, child cash benefit, child care allowance, Family Benefit Fund
Forschungsbereich:Makroökonomie und öffentliche Finanzen