Cyprus single-parent families call for benefit review after child payments expanded

The Pancyprian Association of Single-Parent Families and Friends has called for changes to the single-parent family benefit. The statement came after President Nikos Christodoulides announced an expansion of the child benefit.

On 6 September, the president announced that the income threshold for families with three children had been raised to €90,000, while for families with four children it had been increased to €100,000. For families with five or more children, the income criterion had already been abolished by a 2025 decision. According to government estimates, an additional 17,000 families and more than 23,000 children will receive the payments, while around 2,000 families and 2,800 children will receive a subsidy for tuition fees for children up to four years and four months old.

The association points out that the second benefit has not been changed by the authorities. “The single-parent family benefit, which genuinely supports households living on a single income, remains unchanged,” the statement says. This concerns both the income criteria and the structure of the payment itself.

The organisation notes that over the past three years, government representatives have repeatedly said that a comprehensive reform of both benefits — the child benefit and the single-parent family benefit — was being prepared.

The association is calling for stronger support for single-parent families with an annual income below €20,000 and for the benefit to be paid throughout the children’s entire period of education. Two further demands concern rules that reduce payments: the benefit is cut when unmarried partners have a child together, even when their combined income is zero, while alimony payments and the single-parent family benefit are deducted from the minimum guaranteed income.

In the association’s view, the government still has an opportunity to take these proposals into account in the bill being prepared and fulfil the president’s pre-election promise to support families.