Employees of the European Commission, European Parliament, Council, and EU agencies across Europe can receive several monthly allowances on top of their basic salary. One of the primary family benefits is the Household Allowance.
This guide explains how the Household Allowance is calculated, who qualifies and who does not, how the rules differ depending on whether you have a spouse, partner, or children, and how local staff and expatriates are treated.
All information and figures in this article are based on the EU Staff Regulations and official sources listed at the end of the page. For a complete overview of pay and benefits in the EU institutions, read our main guide on how much EU officials earn.
Key Takeaways
- Monthly Formula: A fixed base of EUR 241.21 plus 2% of your monthly basic salary, adjusted by the cost-of-living Correction Coefficient of your workplace.
- Two Variables: Your exact payout depends on both your basic salary (your grade and step) and your location (where your institution or agency is based).
- Who Qualifies: Staff members who are married, in an eligible registered partnership, or have at least one recognized dependent child.
- Single Staff Without Children: Do not qualify, regardless of whether they are locals or expats.
- Locals vs. Expats: Both local and expatriate staff receive the Household Allowance under the exact same family rules. However, for expats, qualifying for the Household Allowance also increases their Expatriation Allowance, Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA), Installation Allowance, and annual travel payments.
- Spousal Income Limit: If you are married or partnered without dependent children, you only receive the allowance if your partner’s annual gross income is below EUR 60,097.92 per year (adjusted for the cost of living in the country where your partner works). If you have at least one dependent child, there is no limit on your spouse’s income.
How Much is the Household Allowance?
The monthly Household Allowance is made up of a fixed base amount plus a percentage of your monthly basic salary:
Household Allowance = EUR 241.21 + (2% of your monthly basic salary)
This benefit is available to permanent Officials, Temporary Agents (Administrators in grades AD 5–16, Assistants in grades AST 1–11, and Secretaries/Clerks in grades AST/SC 1–6), and Contract Agents (Function Groups FG I–IV).
The Household Allowance is not paid to Seconded National Experts (SNEs), Blue Book trainees, or interim agency staff.
Payslip Code: Once you start working at an EU institution, your monthly salary slip issued by the Paymaster Office (PMO) will list the Household Allowance under the three-letter code AFO (short for the French term Allocation de foyer).
Sample Calculations: Contract Agent FG III and Administrator AD 5
Because the formula includes 2% of your basic salary, the allowance grows as you move up in grade and seniority step. Below are two examples for common entry-level positions in Brussels and Luxembourg (where the Correction Coefficient baseline is 100%):
- Contract Agent FG III, Grade 9, Step 1: The monthly basic salary is EUR 3,932.44. Two percent of this basic salary is EUR 78.65. Adding the fixed base of EUR 241.21 gives a total monthly Household Allowance of EUR 319.86.
- Administrator AD 5, Step 1: The monthly basic salary is EUR 6,152.64. Two percent of this basic salary is EUR 123.05. Adding the fixed base of EUR 241.21 gives a total monthly Household Allowance of EUR 364.26.
How the Allowance Varies by Basic Salary and Location
The Household Allowance is never a single flat sum across all EU employees. The actual amount paid into your bank account varies based on two factors:
- Your Basic Salary: Higher grades and seniority steps produce a larger 2% variable part.
- Your Place of Employment (Correction Coefficient): Like your basic salary and all other EU family allowances, the Household Allowance is multiplied by the Correction Coefficient set for the country or city where your EU institution is located. In locations with higher living costs than Brussels and Luxembourg, the payment is adjusted upwards; in locations with lower living costs, it is adjusted downwards.
The table below shows how the monthly Household Allowance for a Contract Agent FG III (Grade 9, Step 1) and an Administrator AD 5 (Step 1) changes across several EU cities:
| Duty Station / Country | Correction Coefficient | FG III (Grade 9, Step 1) Household Allowance | AD 5 (Step 1) Household Allowance |
| Brussels / Luxembourg (Baseline) | 100.0% | EUR 319.86 | EUR 364.26 |
| Copenhagen, Denmark (e.g., EEA) | 130.5% | EUR 417.42 | EUR 475.36 |
| Paris / Strasbourg, France (e.g., ESMA, EBA, EP) | 113.6% | EUR 363.36 | EUR 413.80 |
| Amsterdam / The Hague, Netherlands (e.g., EMA, Europol) | 113.2% | EUR 362.08 | EUR 412.34 |
| Frankfurt / Cologne, Germany (e.g., EIOPA, AMLA, EASA) | 102.7% | EUR 328.50 | EUR 374.10 |
| Alicante / Madrid, Spain (e.g., EUIPO) | 92.4% | EUR 295.55 | EUR 336.58 |
| Vilnius, Lithuania (e.g., EIGE) | 87.4% | EUR 279.56 | EUR 318.36 |
| Warsaw, Poland (e.g., Frontex) | 82.3% | EUR 263.24 | EUR 299.79 |
Who Qualifies By Family Status
Whether you qualify for the Household Allowance depends on your family situation – specifically whether you have a spouse, a registered partner, dependent children, or none of these.
| Your Family Situation | Eligible? | Key Conditions and Restrictions |
| Single, divorced, or widowed with NO dependent children | No | Single staff without dependent children do not receive the Household Allowance. (A rare exception is possible only if you can prove with official documents that you legally and financially maintain another family member, such as a severely disabled parent). |
| Married with NO dependent children | Conditional | You qualify only if your spouse’s annual gross income (before tax) does not exceed EUR 60,097.92 per year, adjusted by the Correction Coefficient of the country where your spouse works. |
| Registered Partnership (Civil Union / PACS / Legal Cohabitation) with NO dependent children | Restricted | Subject to the same spousal income limit above AND the requirement that the couple does not have legal access to marriage in an EU Member State. In practice, HR and the PMO reject heterosexual civil partnerships without children because opposite-sex couples can legally marry. |
| Married OR Registered Partner WITH 1+ dependent children | Yes | You automatically qualify. The spousal income limit does not apply when you have at least one dependent child—even if your spouse earns a high salary. |
| Single, unmarried, divorced, separated, or widowed parent WITH 1+ dependent children | Yes | You qualify in full as long as you maintain at least one recognized dependent child (under age 18, or aged 18–26 in full-time school, university, or vocational training). Unmarried couples living together with a child also qualify under this rule. |
| Both spouses or partners work for EU institutions | 1 Per Couple | The allowance is paid only once per household, and it goes to the partner who has the higher basic salary. |
Two Rules That Surprise Many Candidates
1. The Spousal Income Limit (When You Have No Children) If you are married (or in an eligible registered partnership) and do not have dependent children, you only receive the Household Allowance if your spouse’s gross annual income before taxes is below the annual basic salary of an EU official in Grade AST 3, Step 2:
- Baseline Limit (Belgium and Luxembourg): EUR 5,008.16 per month, which equals EUR 60,097.92 gross per year.
- Adjusted for Your Spouse’s Work Country: This EUR 60,097.92 cap is multiplied by the Correction Coefficient of the country where your spouse works. For example, if your spouse works in Poland (where the Correction Coefficient is 82.3%), the gross annual income limit is EUR 49,460.59.
- No Limit If You Have Children: As soon as you have at least one recognized dependent child, your spouse’s income is no longer relevant. Even if your spouse earns well above the threshold, you will receive the full Household Allowance.
2. Why Heterosexual Civil Partnerships Without Children Are Rejected Under EU staff rules, a registered non-marital partnership (such as a French PACS or Belgian cohabitation légale) only qualifies for the Household Allowance if the couple produces an official Member State document recognizing their partnership and the couple has no legal access to marriage in an EU Member State. Because opposite-sex couples can legally marry in all EU countries, EU HR departments and the Paymaster Office routinely deny the Household Allowance to childless heterosexual couples in civil partnerships. If you are in an opposite-sex partnership without children, only marriage guarantees the allowance. However, if you have a dependent child together, you automatically qualify as an unmarried parent regardless of whether you are married or in a civil partnership.
Locals vs. Expats
Candidates applying for jobs at EU institutions or agencies located in their own country often wonder whether locals receive the Household Allowance, or whether it is meant only for expatriates. Here is how the rules work for locals versus expats:
Rule 1: Both Locals and Expats Receive the Household Allowance
Unlike the Expatriation Allowance, the Household Allowance is a family benefit, not a relocation benefit. Your citizenship and where you lived before being hired have no effect on your entitlement to the Household Allowance. A Belgian citizen recruited in Brussels or a Lithuanian citizen recruited in Vilnius receives the exact same Household Allowance as an expat colleague in the same grade, provided they meet the family rules above.
Rule 2: What If an Expat’s Family Stays Behind in the Home Country?
Many expatriates start a job at an EU institution while their spouse and children remain in their home country—for instance, so the children can finish the school year or the spouse can keep a job.
- You still receive the full Household Allowance and Dependent Child Allowance: EU rules do not require your spouse or children to move with you to your place of employment in order to receive family allowances. You are paid 100% of the Household Allowance and Dependent Child Allowance even if your family stays in your home country.
- What changes if your family stays behind? Only your one-time Installation Allowance is affected. If you move alone, you receive the single rate (one month’s basic salary) instead of the family rate (two months’ basic salary). If your family relocates to join you within one year of the end of your probation period, HR pays out the second half of the Installation Allowance.
Why is The Household Allowance Larger for Expats
While a local employee and an expat receive the same base Household Allowance, qualifying for the Household Allowance triggers four extra financial benefits for expats and staff who relocate to take up their post:
| Benefit Component | Local Staff (No Relocation) | Expat / Relocating Staff |
| Base Household Allowance (EUR 241.21 + 2% Basic Salary) | Paid in Full if family criteria are met. | Paid in Full if family criteria are met (even if the family stays in the home country). |
| Expatriation (16%) or Foreign Residence (4%) Allowance | Not Eligible (unless you lived outside your home country for 10+ years before being hired). | Boosted by 16% (or 4%): Because the 16% Expatriation Allowance is calculated on (Basic Salary + Household Allowance + Dependent Child Allowance), every euro of your Household Allowance is topped up by an extra 16% (or 4%). |
| Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) | Not Eligible (unless you had to move residence to take up duties). | Higher Rate and Longer Duration: Qualifying for the Household Allowance increases your DSA from EUR 44.68/day to EUR 55.40/day and extends payment from 120 days (~4 months) to 180 days or your probation period plus 1 month (typically 10 months). |
| Installation Allowance | Not Eligible (unless required to move residence). | Doubled (2 Months’ Basic Salary): Relocating staff who qualify for the Household Allowance and move with their family receive two months’ basic salary instead of one month’s (pro-rated if your contract is shorter than three years). |
| Annual Travel Payment | Not Eligible | Extended to Whole Family: Expats who qualify for the Household Allowance receive the annual flat-rate travel payment to their place of origin not only for themselves, but also for their spouse and dependent children. |
Common Questions and Special Situations
What if I get married or have a child after starting my EU job (for example, during probation)? Your entitlement is not fixed forever on your first day of work. If you get married or welcome a child during your probation period or at any point during your contract, you become eligible for the Household Allowance from the month the marriage or birth takes place. Once you submit the official certificate to HR, they will update your file and pay any retroactive difference.
What happens in case of divorce or shared custody of children? If you are divorced, legally separated, or unmarried and have at least one dependent child, you still qualify for the Household Allowance. However, if legal custody of your children has been awarded by law or court order to the other parent (or if an adult dependent child aged 18–26 normally lives with the other parent), the EU institution will pay the Household Allowance directly to that other parent in your name and on your behalf. If several people have custody of different children, the allowance is split proportionally according to the number of children in each person’s care.
Does my spouse have to be an EU citizen? No. Your spouse’s nationality does not affect your eligibility. An EU staff member married to a non-EU citizen qualifies under the exact same rules, provided they submit an officially recognized marriage certificate.
I wrote this article to make it easier to understand the sometimes complex EU HR and administrative rules. However, your individual case might have unique angles due to prior work experience, family situation, or other factors.
Where to ask questions?
Rather than leaving a comment below, please bring your questions to our Jobs in EU Institutions Facebook Group. We have nearly 10,000 members there, including EU ‘insiders’, so you will receive a much faster and more thorough reply from me and the community.
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Best regards, BenSources:
This article is based on the European Commission Staff Regulations and other publicly available information such as EU institutions’ vacancy announcements.
31 responses to “Household allowance”
Hello,
My very long time partner started a job at an EU institution a couple of months ago and is therefore still on probation period. We are not married so are not entitled to the household allowance. Will we be entitled to it if we get married before the end of the probation? (And before I relocate there too, as I am still in france, finishing a job contract)
Many thanks
Hello, I have a question: a EU citizen, Italian, married with a Chinese woman, with a dependent child, is entitled to get the house allowance? Thank you for the reply.
As long as you can give an official proof YES.
I am 65 years old and have just become a widower, Do you know if I still will get the household allowance. I am a 100% disabled. Thank you very much. No children
Hi!
Thank you very much for this very useful post!
I have a question – my partner and I, who live together, will get legal cohabitation in Belgium (not marriage). Does this figure allow familly allowances?
Thank you in advance!
Official cohabitation counts as family and entitles you to the allowance.
In case it’s relevant to anyone, same sex couples also get the same treatment provided their union is recognized under the national law on an EU Member State.
Suppose you are divorced, and have joint custody of your 2 children (half week with each parent). Both parents work for EU institution but so far only one receives the household and child allowance (normal). How will that turn out in terms of household allowance and dependent child allowance? Will each parent receive half of those allowances?
It’s an interesting question to which I don’t know the precise allowance.
If both parents work for EU institutions and are not divorced, they have to decide who gets the allowance (usually the higher-paid parent as the household allowance is a % of basic salary). I assume that in case of divorce and shared custody, parents have to decide who gets the allowance, and this is taken into account by the court when calculating child support payments from the other parent.
Hi all!
I have a question regarding household allowance. I will start working at the EC next month and I will relocate to Luxembourg together with my partner. We had already planned to enter into a civil partnership before moving to Lux but I was recently told that civil partnership is not equal to marriage for the purposes of the EU institutions when it comes
to heterosexual couples ( i.e. I will not be entitled to the household allowance)- and that I will have to get married instead. Could anyone confirm if this is true? Thank you very much in advance!
Hello Sara, I’m in the same situation. Did you manage to find a solution for this case? That is, to be entitled to household allowance while in a heterosexual civil partnership?
I was wondering whether the provisions of point (d) of Article 1(2) of Annex VII of Regulation No 31 (EEC) could be applied in this case.
” by special reasoned decision of the appointing authority based on supporting documents, an official who, while not fulfilling the conditions laid down in (a), (b) and (c) , nevertheless actually assumes family responsibilities.”
I was also told by HR that for heterosexual couples the household allowance is only given to married couples. This also applies to all other benefits that are given to someone with a spouse (or civil partner, but only for homosexual couples), e.g. higher settlement allowance, daily subsidence allowance for longer.
Other colleagues were also told the same.
Yet another example of how the EU institutions are falling behind any modern workplace. It seems that the Commission prefers people to marry because they are more stable and therefore loyal to the institutions. What a stale, prehistoric set of policies and values!
Hi! Please check again with HR and maybe also contact PMO, the Paymasters Office. You can also do this retroactively once you take up your duties.
In general, if the civil partnership status is equalized to marriage in the particular member state, it should be recognized by the EU institution.
We (me and my heterosexual partner, also working for the EU) have recently asked the question, in order to see if it’s worth entering into the cohabitation légale for these reasons. Sadly, the response was the same – though officially stated otherwise, heterosexual couple only get the HH allowance if married and nothing else (e.g., common law) counts – they confirmed that this was only meant for homosexual partners who cannot get married.
Roman & others – many thanks for sharing your experiences!
I wonder if this is only the Commission Practice, or also in EU agencies. Will look into this!
Hi all,
There is any restrictions regarding moving my family in the country where I am employed during my probation period or should it be done when the probation period will end, after I will sign my contract? This decision will impact the child’s allowances, daily subsistence allowances household allowance or other entitlements?
I intend to come alone in the beginning, to settle the administrative, housing and schooling stuff, to make the resettlement easier for my family.
Thank you in advance for your advice!
AAP
Alexandru, hi! You are allowed to move with your family during the probation period. Considering that probation is usually 9 months which is basically one school year, most families relocate together. What’s the worst than can happen? Of course, if you don’t pass your probation, however, chances of that are very very small. As far as I’m aware, the time by which your family relocates with you to the place of employment does not impact entitlement to allowances.
You have stated in one of your replies that you are not elegible for the household allowance if the family is not relocated to the country where the EU institution is located. However, after reviewing the Staff regulations I can’t find any paragraph about this. The reference you are making is regarding the installation allowance, and not the household allowance (article 5.4). This should mean that you are entitled to the house hold allowance if you have kids and are married but the family is left behind. Am i missing something?
Hi,
while going through the pre-employment process with HR, I was advised that the household allowance would not apply to heterosexual couples who are in a civil partnership.
This is verbatim what I was told by HR
“As for the civil partnership, you will not be entitled to get the household allowance, as according to the Status, you should be in a situation where you do not have access to marriage.”
Hello Ben,
I reviewed the Staff Regulations, specifically: ANNEX VII Remuneration and reimbursement of expenses –> Section 1 FAMILY ALLOWANCES –> Article 1, and I could not find any statement as to why an employee who is a national of the same country the EU institution is located, should not be entitled of the household allowance.
Were you (or perhaps someone else) able to find the specific statement(s) in the Staff Regulations that a Household Allowance is only available to an employee who is not a national of the same country where the EU institution is located?
Thanks!
Dear Roger,
Thanks for drawing my attention to this. I just checked the Staff Regulation and you are right – all EU employees who are either married or in a civil partnership or with at least one dependent child are eligible. Will adjust this and other articles on the website.
Hi Ben,
I reviewed the Staff Regulation – specifically “Annex VII – Remuneration and reimbursement of expenses” –> “Section 1 Family Allowances” –> Article 1 that speaks to the household allowance, but I cannot seem to find a reference that a national of the same country the EU institution is located, should not be entitled of the household allowance.
Perhaps I missed the reference. Have you, or anyone else had any luck finding the statement that Household allowance does not apply to nationals of the same country the EU institution is located?
Hi,
Just wondering about the household allowance again. Does anyone know if you are entitled to the household allowance and dependent child allowance if your family does not intend on moving to Brussels? Bearing in mind there would be a lot of travel between the two countries.
Also, when you use eu salary calculators online, they show you the net salary. Is this after all deductions?
Once you are working there a while, is it possible to negotiate flexible working arrangements, such as one day off per week or per fortnight?
I am trying to work out of a career in the EU would be manageable if my family were to remain in Ireland. Thanks
Declan, hi! Thanks for the important questions, this is something that concerns many people who consider employment in EU institutions. Let me try to answer one by one.
1) Household and child allowances – you would get the child allowance automatically as you have children, however, to get the household allowance you have to prove that the whole family has relocated.
2) Salary calculator – As far as I know there are no reliable EU salary calculators online. Europol used to host the European Commission salary calculator on their website, but that got removed in 2021. You can only get access to the salary calculator once you are employed at an EU institution (or you can ask a friend who works for an EU institution to do a calculation for you). The actual European Commission salary calculator shows salary before and after deductions.
3) Teleworking – currently staff of EU institutions are entitled to 60 teleworking days annually, however, teleworking has to be done from the place of employment usually, in your case Brussels. There is talk that the European Commission might increase it up to half of the annual working days (~120-180), but it is not known if people would also be allowed to work from other EU locations.
In my working career I’ve heard of only one instance where the employee was upfront about willing to telework every 2nd week from his home country and was able to negotiate this successfully. If the institution really wants to employ you, they might agree to this, but you have to be ready to walk away from the employment offer. If you don’t manage to agree on this from the start, you will have to abide by regular teleworking rules later.
Best of luck! If you manage to negotiate permanent telework from Ireland, would be great if you let me know how the negotiation went!
Hello! I am starting soon a job in EU Commission. I am married with kids but first I intend to go alone (without husband, kids) in order to make it easier for all of us. So my questions are:
1) Do I still have the right for household allowance?
2) What about daily allowance? Do I have the right to receive it for 10 months despite the fact that firstly I am going to be the only one registered to the new country?
3) The daily allowance is paid at the same time with your salary from the first month or after the probationary period?
Sorry for so many questions. I really appreciate your help!
Thanks in advance Ben!
Hi! In your case it really makes sense to look through the Staff Regulation and do a search for household allowance. But after that you would anyway better check it with HR as the rules are quite arcane and sometimes makes sense of for the lay person.
Answer to Q1) Nevertheless, my search of the Staff Regulation revealed this paragraph: “An official who ►M25 is entitled to the household allowance ◄ and does not settle with his family at the place where he is employed shall receive only half the allowance to which he would otherwise be entitled; the second half shall be paid when his family settles at the place where he is employed, provided that it does so within the periods laid down in Article 9 (3).” Hence, the allowance will most likely be impacted by your family not yet moving to your place of employment.
Answer to Q2)
Again a quote from Staff Regulations: “The period in respect of which the daily subsistence allowance is granted shall be as follows:
[…](b) in the case of an official ►M25 ►C16 who is entitled to the household allowance ◄ ◄ : 180 days or, if the official is a probationer, the period of probation plus one month.” I didn’t find a mention anywhere in the Staff Regulations that the daily allowance would be impacted by whether your family has relocated or not. My personal experience also has been that I have received the full Daily Subsistence Allowance despite my family not yet having moved with me in the first months of the new job.
Answer to Q3) DSA is paid from the start of your probation period. Usually it is the 2nd month as most institutions only manage to pay you the basic salary at best in the first month as they cannot not calculate and process all of your entitlements so quickly. So – be prepared for a leaner income in the first month, but then a compensatory payment in the 2nd month.
Sorry for the delay in answering you, I hope the reply is still useful.
Suppose you are divorced, and have joint custody of a child (alternate weeks with each parent). going to work for the EU, how will that turn out in term of howsehold allowance? the child will stay with the other parent, because its impratical to move between countries, will it still be considered as a dependent?
Hi all,
Do we know if ‘household’ and ‘dependent child’ allowances are subjected to correction coefficient like daily subsidiary allowance?
Yes, unfortunately, all allowances are also indexed.
I don’t understand why an employee who is a national of the same country the EU institution is located, should not be entitled of the household allowance, considering that the expatriation allowance is already there for expats.
Indeed, it is sometimes hard to decipher the logic behind the rules. I think I’ll add the respective Staff Regulation articles to the post so that everyone can see for themselves and in case there are any additional details that didn’t seem relevant to me.