This deliverable sets out to analyse the context-specificity of financial support policies for families with children and (out-of-pocket fees for) childcare services, two policy areas that feature prominently in rEUsilience recommendations (Daly et al., 2025). Our first question was to what extent child-contingent benefits compensate for the out-of-pocket costs of formal childcare services at different income levels. Based on our newly introduced compensation ratio measure, we showed that the combination of child contingent benefits and out-of-pocket costs tends to be low-income targeted, in the sense that lower-income families pay lower fees for childcare and/or receive higher benefits. Secondly, we asked to what extent child-contingent benefits compensate for the out-of-pocket costs of formal childcare services for different family types. Here, we found that generally (with the exception of Spain) families with more children receive higher child-contingent benefits relative to their out-of-pocket costs for childcare, compared to families with fewer children. Finally, we asked to what extent child-contingent benefits compensate for the out-of-pocket costs of formal childcare services when families transition into work. Here, we found that, generally, the compensation ratio was higher for families on social assistance or employment at low wages, compared to families working at higher wages.
Authors: Toon Van Havere, Rense Nieuwenhuis, Max Thaning, Wim Van Lancker, and Gerlinde Verbist