With the adoption of the decision on the minimum wage in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) for 2025, now set at 1.000 BAM, the child allowance will increase from the previous 117 BAM to 190 BAM per child.
According to the Law on Material Support to Families with Children in the FBiH, the child allowance amounts to 19% of the minimum wage, while the income threshold for eligibility is set at 40% of the minimum wage per household member, which will now be 400 BAM.
It is estimated that 395.000 children under the age of 18 live in the FBiH. According to the latest official data, every second child in the FBiH lives on the brink of poverty, while every fourth child lives below the poverty line.
Over the past year, the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy worked on amendments to the Law on Material Support to Families with Children to remove obstacles in its practical application. These amendments ensured that children with malignant diseases and children with 100% disabilities in the first and second categories of care now have the right to child allowances regardless of family income. Additionally, the restriction that previously included allowances for personal disability, care by another person, and permanent social assistance in the income threshold has been removed, providing financial relief to families receiving such benefits.
“We hope that the increase in child allowances will contribute to supporting families, as these changes will enable certain families to gain the right to child allowances due to the raised income threshold. This reaffirms our commitment to investing in children because children are our greatest wealth. Investing in children is not a cost but an investment in the future,” emphasized Adnan Delic, Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy.
The Government of the FBiH and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy are working daily to improve social policy and find legal solutions to enable as many children as possible to exercise their right to child allowances.
In collaboration with UNICEF, the Ministry is preparing a study to analyze the possibilities of introducing a universal child allowance and differentiated payment brackets so that children from families with greater needs can receive higher amounts of allowance, while ultimately ensuring that all children receive a certain amount of child allowance.
