INPS

The allowance is payable to Italian, EU or non-EU citizens in possession of a suitable residence permit (all requirements are listed below) for childbirths, adoptions, or pre-adoptive foster parenting occurring in 2020.

The 20% increase

When all other requirements are met, the increase is applied on the basis of the following criteria:

• the increase is paid for each child after the first child of the parent claiming the grant, provided the cohabitation requirement of these two individuals is met;
• for the purposes of the increase, the “first child” of the applicant parent is the child, minor or otherwise, residing in Italy and living with the applicant parent;
• otherwise, minors in pre-adoptive foster parenting and those in temporary foster parenting are not considered a “first child” or “second child” since the increase is provided for the second child, therefore on the basis of relations of “parentage”;
• in the event of a twin childbirth occurring on the same day in 2020:
  • if this is a first event (or if the applicant parent has never had nor adopted children), the increase is paid for each child adopted following the first child in order of time (for example, childbirth of triplets in 2020, if the applicant has no other children, the increase is only due for the second and third born in chronological order);
  • if it is not a first event (i.e. if the applicant parent has previously had children, including adopted children) the surcharge is due to all twins, triplets, etc.;
• in the event of multiple adoption, namely the adoption of minors taking place on the same day in 2020, if this is a first event (or if the applicant parent has never had nor adopted children), the increase is paid for each child adopted following the first child in order of time (for example, adoption of three minors on 07 May 2020, if the applicant has no other children, the increase is only due for the second and third born in chronological order). In the case of multiple adoption of twins, the increase is paid for all twins adopted with the exception of one, chosen by the applicant (for example, adoption of triplets on 07 May 2020, if the applicant has no other children, the increase is only due for two of the triplets adopted, chosen by the applicant);
• in the event of multiple adoption taking place on the same day in 2020, if this is not a first event (or if the applicant parent has previously had or adopted children), the increase is paid for each child adopted, including the adoption of twins (for example, adoption of three minors on 07 May 2020, if the applicant has other children, the increase is due for all three adopted minors).

START DATE AND DURATION

The allowance is payable starting from the month of the child’s childbirth or from their entry into the family if adopted or fostered. The claim must be submitted within 90 days of the child's childbirth or date of entry into the family following adoption or pre-adoptive foster parenting. If the allowance can no longer be granted to the applicant parent (e.g. because they have been deprived of parental rights or because the child has been placed solely in the care of the other parent), the other parent may take over the right to the allowance by submitting a new claim within 90 days of the court's decision ordering the applicant parent to be deprived of parental rights or for the child to be solely in the care of the other parent. In this case, the allowance is payable to the new applicant parent starting from the month following the one in which the court order was issued.

For the temporary foster parenting of a child born or adopted in 2020, the allowance is due starting from the month in which the court order or the social services order issued by the judge with the aim of protecting the child is issued.

In the event of the death of the applicant parent, the allowance will be paid to the other parent living with the child. The surviving parent must provide INPS with the necessary information required for the allowance to continue within 90 days of the death.

However, if the claim is submitted more than 90 days after the date of death, the allowance will be payable starting from the month in which the claim was submitted.

If your claim is rejected in order to apply for an allowance, you must submit a new one. If the new claim is submitted more than 90 days later, the allowance will be payable starting from the month in which the new claim was submitted.

The allowance is paid monthly for childbirths, adoptions or pre-adoptive foster parenting in 2020 for a maximum of 12 months starting from the month of childbirth or entry into the family.

WHAT AM I ENTITLED TO?

The amount of the pre-adoptive foster parenting allowance in 2020 depends on whether the ‘ISEE minors of the child for whom the allowance is applied is valid:

• if you have an ISEE of no more than €7,000 per year, the baby bonus is equal to €1,920 per year or €2,304 per year for the second child; that is, respectively, €160 per month (first child) or €192 per month (second child onwards);
• if you have an ISEE of more than €7,000 per year, but no more than €40,000, the baby bonus is equal to €1,440 per year or €1,728 per year for any children born after the first; that is, respectively, €120 per month (first child) or €144 per month (second child onwards);
• if you have an ISEE of more than €40,000 per year, the baby bonus is equal to €960 per year or €1,152 per year for the second child; that is, respectively, €80 per month (first child) or €96 per month (second child onwards).

The monthly payment of the allowance is made by INPS directly to the applicant either by domestic bank transfer, crediting to a bank or postal current account, through a postal savings book or by payment to a prepaid card with the IBAN in the applicant's name. When submitting your claim, you must enclose form SR/163 “Claim for payment of income support benefits”, failing which your claim will remain suspended.

If the claim has been submitted by the legal representative in the name and on behalf of a minor parent or a parent that is unable to act, the means of payment chosen must be in the name of the parent.

If the child that is born or adopted is temporarily placed in the care of another family, in accordance with Article 2 of Law no. 184 of 04 May 1983, the allowance is paid to the caregiver, who must apply for it, and is only payable for the duration of the care placement.

The allowance will be paid starting from the month following the one in which the claim was submitted. The first payment also includes the amount of the monthly payments accrued up to that point.

WITHDRAWAL OF BENEFIT

The grant payment is interrupted due to forfeiture when one of the following situations occurs:

• the applicant no longer meets one of the requirements stipulated by law (e.g. due to residing abroad, losing their citizenship or right to a residence permit, no longer cohabiting with the child, the revocation of foster parenting);
• in the event of the death of the child;
• in the event of revocation of adoption;
• in the event of revocation of parental responsibility;
• in the event in which the minor is fostered exclusively by the person that has not claimed;
• in the event in which the minor is fostered by a different person than the one who claimed;
• in the event of a negative decision by the court which results in the revocation of pre-adoptive foster parenting.

The grant payment ends when one of the following situations occurs:

• the child reaches one year of age or one year has passed since the child joined the family (the one year is calculated from the month of childbirth or introduction into the family, including said month);
• temporary fostering ends;
• the child reaches 18 years of age.

The applicant must notify INPS of the loss of any of these requirements within 30 days. If the applicant loses one of the legal requirements or if there is cause for withdrawal, the claim for the allowance may be made for the same child by the other parent or, in the case of temporary foster parenting, by the foster parent.

In the cases of expiry, the user, when he or she meets the requirements again, must submit a new claim, and the following rules shall apply to the start date of the benefit: if the new claim is submitted within 90 days of the event (childbirth, adoption, foster parenting), the grant is paid from the month in which the user met all the requirements again; if the new claim is submitted after the deadline of 90 days from the event, the grant begins from the month of submission of the new claim.

REQUIREMENTS

The claim may be submitted by a parent who:

• has Italian citizenship, citizenship of a European Union state or an EU long-term residence permit (Article 9, Italian Legislative Decree no. 286 of 25 July 1998 and subsequent amendments); has a residence card for family members of a European Union citizen (Italian or European Union) who are not citizens of a Member State, as per Article 10, Italian Legislative Decree no. 30 of 06 February 2007; has a permanent residence card for family members who are not citizens of a Member State, as per Article 17, Italian Legislative Decree 30/2007. For the purposes of granting the allowance, Italian citizens are treated as equivalent to foreign citizens who have political refugee status or subsidiary protection status (Article 27 of Italian Legislative Decree no. 251 of 19 November 2007);
• is a resident in Italy;
• cohabits with the child (child and applicant parent must live together, and their usual residence must be in the same municipality).

The actual allowance will be calculated on the basis of the current ‘ISEE minors’ value and could also apply, within the limits of a minimum sum of € 960 per year, to ISEE amounts which exceed the maximum limit or in the absence of ISEE.

For events occurring in 2020, without the current ISEE undergoing attestation at the time of submission of the claim (e.g., DSU not submitted, expired ISEE, DSU without child for whom the allowance was initially claimed, etc.), differently from the indications provided in the previous regulations (currently in force for events preceding 2020), the baby bonus will be granted in any case if other requirements are met. However, since it is not possible in this case to identify the ISEE band of reference on time, the benefit will be paid out to a minimum of €80 per month (or €96 per month in the case of a child following the first one).

In such cases, possession of the additional requirements (parental relationship, cohabitation with the child, etc.) must be self-declared in the claim with assumption of the applicant’s responsibility in case of false and misleading statements pursuant to Article 76 of Italian Presidential Decree 445/2000, and that the INPS territorial facilities, as usual, will carry out checks on the various self-declarations in accordance with Article 71 of Italian Presidential Decree 445/2000) and withdraw/forfeit the benefit, with recovery of any undue payments.

If at the time of submitting the claim for a baby bonus, it is not possible to do so in conjunction with an ISEE because you do not have a valid ISEE and, therefore, said indicator is submitted later, the sum of allowance may be calculated as the addition of the difference expected from the date of submission of the DSU from which a valid minors ISEE results.

If the child is temporarily placed in the care of a third-party, the claim for the allowance can be submitted by the custodial parent. In this case, the ISEE requirement is calculated with reference to the family unit to which the foster child belongs: more specifically, although minors in temporary foster parenting are considered as a family unit in their own right, the foster parent has the right to consider them as part of his/her own family unit.

If two or more children are born or adopted, for example multiple childbirth or entry of twins into a family, a claim must be submitted for each child.

If the eligible parent is a minor or is unable to act for other reasons, the claim must be submitted in his/her name by his/her legal representative.

In order to claim the allowance, applicants are advised to submit the Single Substitute Statement (DSU) pursuant to the Council of Ministers' Presidential Decree no. 159 of 05 December 2013. The family unit indicated in the DSU must be that of the child born, adopted or in pre-adoptive foster care and for whom the allowance is claimed.

The claimant should renew the DSU for each year of entitlement to the benefit for the purpose of issuing a valid ISEE.

Claims for allowances can be submitted along with a current ISEE that is within its validity period. In this case, the amount of the allowance will be calculated based on the value of the current ISEE until a new DSU is submitted.

Once expired, the ISEE may be renewed upon presentation of another replacement DSU form. Otherwise, if no new replacement DSU form is submitted once the current ISEE has expired, the most recent DSU form submitted and the ordinary ISEE issued as a result of said form will be used for reference.

Only the DSU must be submitted every year; you are not required to submit a new claim.

For the events of 2020, the presence of omissions and/or discrepancies in the ISEE certificate at the time of the claim implies, similarly to the lack of ISEE, the definition of the claim in “accepted” status so long as the other legal requirements are met, with payment of the minimum amount of €80 per month (€96 in the case of a child subsequent to the first).

Omissions or discrepancies may be remedied by a new DSU (from which an attestation free of such anomalies will be issued) or by retroactive correction (if the DSU has been submitted through CAF and the CAF has committed a material error) or by submitting appropriate supporting documentation to the competent INPS office.

Upon the user’s regularisation of the ISEE, which may take place within the validity term of the DSU from which the omissions and/or discrepancies are derived, the amount of the allowance due will be supplemented with any difference where due.

WHEN CAN I CLAIM?

The claim must be submitted within 90 days from the childbirth or from the date that the adopted or fostered child entered the family. In the case of temporary foster parenting, the claim may be submitted by the foster caregiver within 90 days from the issuance of the court's or the social services' decision made by the tutelary judge.

HOW CAN I CLAIM?

Claims for the allowance must be submitted to INPS using the dedicated online service which also allows you to view the final decision. Usually, only one claim per child is needed. To use the service you must select the area “Benefits and services/Services” and then use your credentials to access the service Childbirth Allowance - Baby Bonus (Citizen).

Alternatively, claims can be made by:

• phoning the contact centre on +39 803 164 (free from Italian landlines) or +39 06 164 164 from mobile phones;
• electronic services offered by patronage institutes and intermediaries thereof.

It is also possible, through the aforementioned channels, to communicate any further changes to what is stated in the claim form (e.g. change of address, IBAN). To communicate a change in the IBAN code or the payment method (e.g. from home transfer to current account) you must enclose form SR/163 “Claim for payment of income support benefits”.

At the end of the assessment procedure, the applicant will receive an SMS message informing him/her of the final decision of the claim. From that moment on, the applicant can view the outcome of the claim (accepted or rejected) by accessing the service and selecting the "Consult your claim" option from the internal menu. Users who enter their certified email (PEC) when filling in the online claim can receive notification of the acceptance or rejection of their claim directly to their PEC mailbox.

Regulatory references

The Baby Bonus was introduced by Article 1, paragraphs 125-129 of Law no. 190 of 23 December 2014 (2015 Stability Law), while the Council of Ministers' Presidential Decree of 27 February 2015 adopted the relevant implementing provisions.

The 2018 Budget Law also granted the benefit for those born and adopted in 2018 until the first year of age or the first year of entry into the household following adoption.

Article 23-quater, Decree Law no. 119 of 23 October 2018, converted with amendments by Law no. 136 of 17 December 2018, also granted the benefit to those born and adopted in 2019 until the first year of age or the first year of entry into the family following adoption. In the event of a second child, born or adopted between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019, the amount of the allowance is increased by 20%.

Article 1, paragraphs 340 and 341, Law no. 160 of 27 December 2019, also granted the benefit to those born and adopted in 2020 until the first year of age or the first year of entry into the family following adoption. In the event of a second child, born or adopted between 01 January 2020 and 31 December 2020, the amount of the allowance is increased by 20%.

Baby Bonus for children born between 01 January 2019 and 31 December 2019

A childbirth allowance is for each child born, adopted or placed in pre-adoptive foster parenting between 01 January 2019 and 31 December 2019 with an ISEE equal or lower than €25,000. The allowance is annual and is paid every month until the first year of age or first year of entry into the household following adoption or pre-adoptive foster parenting.

The allowance is payable starting from the month of the child’s childbirth or from their entry into the family if adopted or fostered. The claim must be submitted within 90 days of the child's childbirth or date of entry into the family following adoption or pre-adoptive foster parenting. If the allowance can no longer be granted to the applicant parent (e.g. because they have been deprived of parental rights or because the child has been placed solely in the care of the other parent), the other parent may take over the right to the allowance by submitting a new claim within 90 days of the court's decision ordering the applicant parent to be deprived of parental rights or for the child to be solely in the care of the other parent. In this case, the allowance is payable to the new applicant parent starting from the month following the one in which the court order was issued.

For the temporary foster parenting of a child born or adopted in 2019, the allowance is due starting from the month in which the court order or the social services order issued by the judge with the aim of protecting the child is issued.

In the event of the death of the applicant parent, the allowance will be paid to the other parent living with the child. The surviving parent must provide INPS with the necessary information required for the allowance to continue within 90 days of the death.

However, if the claim is submitted more than 90 days after the date of death, the allowance will be payable starting from the month in which the claim was submitted.

If your claim is rejected in order to apply for an allowance, you must submit a new one. If the new claim is submitted more than 90 days later, the allowance will be payable starting from the month in which the new claim was submitted.

The allowance is paid monthly for childbirths, adoptions or pre-adoptive foster parenting in 2019 for a maximum of 12 months starting from the month of childbirth or entry into the family.

The amount of the allowance depends on the ‘ISEE minors’ of the child for whom the allowance is claimed.

• where the ISEE minors value is no greater than €25,000 per year, the amount is €80 per month for a maximum of 12 months (€960 per year); where the increase under Italian Decree Law no. 119/2018 is applied, the total amount of the grant is €96 per month for a maximum of 12 months (€1,152 per year);
• where the ISEE minors value is no greater than €7,000 per year, the amount is €160 per month for a maximum of 12 months (€1,920 per year); where the increase under Italian Decree Law no. 119/2018 is applied, the monthly amount of the grant is €192 per month for a maximum of 12 months (€2,304 per year).

Disbursement of the allowance is interrupted due to forfeiture upon the occurrence of the situations mentioned in the "forfeiture” paragraph and due to the possibility of exceeding the ISEE minors threshold of less than €25,000 per year.

The grant payment ends when one of the following situations occurs:

• the child reaches one year of age or one year has passed since the child joined the family (the one year is calculated from the month of childbirth or introduction into the family, including said month);
• temporary fostering ends;
• the child reaches 18 years of age.

The claim may be submitted by a parent who meets the following requirements:

• has Italian citizenship, citizenship of a European Union state or an EU long-term residence permit (Article 9, Italian Legislative Decree no. 286 of 25 July 1998 and subsequent amendments); has a residence card for family members of a European Union citizen (Italian or European Union) who are not citizens of a Member State, as per Article 10, Italian Legislative Decree no. 30 of 06 February 2007; has a permanent residence card for family members who are not citizens of a Member State, as per Article 17, Italian Legislative Decree no. 30/2007. For the purposes of granting the allowance, Italian citizens are treated as equivalent to foreign citizens who have political refugee status or subsidiary protection status (Article 27 of Italian Legislative Decree no. 251 of 19 November 2007);
• is a resident in Italy;
• cohabits with the child (child and applicant parent must live together, and their usual residence must be in the same municipality);
• has an ISEE for the family unit (or for the minor if he or she is a considered as a single family unit due to being fostered), that does not exceed €25,000 at the time of submission of the claim and for the entire duration of the benefit. The ‘ISEE minors’ of the child for whom the allowance is claimed can be seen in the specific table of the attestation known as "facilitated benefits for minors or families with minors".

The claim must be submitted within 90 days from the childbirth or from the date that the adopted or fostered child entered the family. In the case of temporary foster parenting, the claim may be submitted by the foster caregiver within 90 days from the issuance of the court's or the social services' decision made by the tutelary judge.

Claims for the allowance must be submitted to INPS using the dedicated online service which also allows you to view the final decision. Usually, only one claim per child is needed.

Alternatively, claims can be submitted by:

• using the Contact Centre, by calling the toll-free number (+39) 803164 or (+39) 06 164164 from a landline phone (with charges set by your operator)
• legally-recognised patronage institutes that will provide free assistance.

Baby Bonus for children born between 01 January 2018 and 31 December 2018

A childbirth allowance was paid for each child born, adopted or placed in pre-adoptive foster parenting between 01 January 2018 and 31 December 2018 with an ISEE equal or lower than €25,000. The allowance was annual and was paid every month until the first year or age or first year of entry into the household following adoption or pre-adoptive foster parenting.

Baby Bonus for children born between 01 January 2015 and 31 December 2017

A childbirth allowance is for each child born, adopted or placed in pre-adoptive foster parenting between 01 January 2015 and 31 December 2017 with an ISEE equal or lower than €25,000.

The allowance is annual and is paid on a monthly basis until either the third year of the child's life or the third year after the adopted or pre-adoptive foster child enters the family.

The amount of the allowance depends on the ‘ISEE minors’ of the child for whom the allowance is claimed. For an ‘ISEE minors’ of less than €7,000, the amount is €1,920. For an ‘ISEE minors’ between €7,000 and €25,000 per year, the amount is €960.

Disbursement of the allowance is interrupted due to forfeiture upon the occurrence of the situations mentioned in the "forfeiture” paragraph and due to the possibility of exceeding the ISEE threshold of less than €25,000 per year.

The grant payment ends when one of the following situations occurs:

• the child reaches three years of age or three years have passed since the child joined the family (the three years are calculated from the month of childbirth or introduction into the family, including said month);
• temporary fostering ends;
• the child reaches 18 years of age.