Applications for the 2026 maternity bonus are now open

The 2026 Mums’ Bonus is set to begin. From today, 20 October, the service for applying for the annual grant of 720 euros (60 euros for each month worked in 2026) is available on the INPS portal. This support is aimed at female employees or self-employed workers with at least two children, employed in the private or public sector, with an income from work of up to 40,000 euros. The bonus will be paid directly by the Institute, in a single instalment, in December (INPS Circular 106/2026 and Message 3343 of 20 October). Applications may be submitted until 31 December and, for women who meet the eligibility criteria after this date (for example, because their second child is born at the end of December), the deadline is extended to 31 January 2027. To apply, you can access the service via the Institute’s portal, logging in with your digital ID, or use the Contact Centre, or contact a welfare organisation. Last year, there were 650,098 recipients of the maternity bonus (6 per cent of women in employment).

However, the other form of support – namely the contribution relief of 3,000 euros per year, provided for the three-year period 2024–26 and intended for female employees on permanent contracts, who are mothers of at least three children (up to the child’s 18th birthday), employed in either the private or public sector. This benefit is means-tested and is paid directly into the employee’s pay packet by the employer until next December. To understand what will happen from January 2027, we will have to wait for the Budget Bill. There are 179,169 beneficiaries of this ‘social security contribution relief’ (1.7 per cent of the female workforce).

Female workers in the private and public sectors – excluding the domestic sector (which employs over 700,000 women) – are eligible to claim the €60-a-month maternity bonus. Mothers of two children must be employees (on permanent or fixed-term contracts) or self-employed, including professionals. The allowance is payable until the youngest child reaches the age of ten.

Mothers of three children, on the other hand, can only apply for this support if they are employees on a fixed-term contract or self-employed (in practice, this applies to people who do not already have a contribution exemption in 2026).

The benefit is paid on a monthly basis: for example, if the second child turned ten in August, the 60 euros is payable for eight months. Similarly, the bonus ceases for mothers who are not eligible for the tax relief but can claim the €60 incentive if their third child turns 18.