What is it?+
The basic maternity allowance, also called the "maternity allowance of the municipalities", is a welfare benefit granted by the municipalities and paid by the INPS (Article 74 of Italian Legislative Decree No. 51 of 26 March 2001).
Who is it aimed at?+
The right to the allowance, in the case of birth, adoption or pre-adoptive foster care, concerns Italian residents, EU citizens or foreigners who hold a residence permit (to see which specific type of residence permit is deemed useful for granting the benefit please contact your municipality of residence). The allowance is due only within certain income limits.
Applicants must not have any social security coverage or must have it within a certain amount set annually. Furthermore, they must not already be beneficiaries of another INPS maternity allowance pursuant to Law No. 488 of 23 December 1999.
How does it work?+
The claim must be submitted to the municipality of residence which is responsible for verifying that all legal requirements for the granting of the services have been met (Articles 17 and following of the decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 21 December, 2000), within six months of the birth of the child or from the actual entry into the family of the minor who has been adopted or is under pre-adoptive foster care.
The allowance cannot be combined with other social security benefits, except if you are entitled to receive the differential amount from the municipality.
The amount of the allowance is re-adjusted each year for families of workers and dependent workers based on changes in the ISTAT consumer price index. Every year the Institute publishes the amount in the circular on conventional average wages.