Greek child benefit 2026: when each payment is made
A21 is paid every two months, on the last working day of the payment month. Only the dates OPEKA has actually announced are listed here.
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The next Greek child benefit payment is the extra catch-up payment on 9 October 2026, for applications that had been stuck. The first four two-month instalments of 2026 were paid on 31 March 2026, 29 May 2026, 30 July 2026 and 30 September 2026, the last of them to 422,148 A21 families. OPEKA, the welfare agency that pays it, has not yet announced the dates of the fifth and sixth instalments, so we do not guess them; they will be added here when published. Each instalment equals two months of benefit. A couple with two children and €14,000 of income, in band Β, receives €168 per instalment; a couple with one child on €20,000 gets €56. If you have not applied for 2026 yet, the fifth application round runs from 5 October 2026 to 13 November 2026, and missed months are paid back. Use the small calculator to see your own instalment.
What each payment brings you
Each two-month payment
€168
| Per month | €84 |
| The 4 payments made by September | €672 |
| Whole year (6 payments) | €1,008 |
Payments made in 2026
| Instalment | Date | A21 families paid | Per instalment, 2 children, €14,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Instalment 1 | 31 March 2026 | 393,985 | €168 |
| Instalment 2 | 29 May 2026 | 460,803 | €168 |
| Instalment 3 | 30 July 2026 | 434,267 | €168 |
| Instalment 4 | 30 September 2026 | 422,148 | €168 |
| Extra catch-up payment | 9 October 2026 | , | , |
| Instalments 5 and 6 | not yet announced | , | €168 |
The number of families paid moves from one instalment to the next because each application round adds claims and each new tax return can change a family’s band. Between the second and fourth instalments it fell by 38,655; OPEKA did not publish a breakdown of why. If your own amount changed, re-run the child benefit calculator with the income on your latest assessment.
The A21 application rounds
| Round | Opens | Closes |
|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | 27 February 2026 | 11 March 2026 |
| Round 2 | 31 March 2026 | 8 May 2026 |
| Round 3 | 29 May 2026 | 10 July 2026 |
| Round 4 | 31 July 2026 | 11 September 2026 |
| Round 5 | 5 October 2026 | 13 November 2026 |
The platform is not open all year. It opens in rounds, which in 2026 closed roughly three weeks before each payment while claims were checked. You can apply with your TAXISnet credentials; non-Greek residents who have a tax number and file returns use the same route. A claim made in a later round keeps its right to the earlier months.
Before each payment, three checks
First, the status of your claim on the IDIKA platform: a claim not approved before a round closes moves to the following payment. Second, your tax return: if you amended it, OPEKA recalculates. Third, school records for children aged 4 to 16: without an enrolment on the Ministry of Education system, the benefit for that child is suspended. The extra payment on 9 October 2026 exists precisely for families caught by that last point.