Child benefit to rise only in line with inflation in 2027. The government is studying changes to the benefit itself
The child benefit, abono de família, will rise in 2027 only in line with inflation, as the law requires, with nothing added on top. That was the answer the Minister of Labour and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, gave in parliament when an MP from the Livre party asked whether the government was prepared to raise the benefit further (Observador).
According to the minister, the government is now assessing how effective the benefit is in fighting child poverty, and it "did not consider it right" to raise it before that work is finished. She did not say what might change or when. The Secretary of State Susana Filipa Lima had already spoken of a "structural review" of the benefit in July, but no results are expected in 2026 (Notícias ao Minuto).
Abono de família is paid monthly by Segurança Social; the amount depends on the family's income and the child's age. Families of foreign nationals living in Portugal on a residence permit receive it too.
