Promises to pay families with children more: 6 of 10 came true on time
- Sweden: +100 kronor200%
- Austria: €1,500 bonus133%
- UK: £15 a week107%
- Germany: €250102%
- Korea: 100,000 won100%
- Greece: €2,000 once100%
- Estonia: €7580%
- Germany: adult allowance79%
- Croatia: double78%
- Japan: ¥550,000 a birth76%
Payment at the deadline, % of the promise
6 of 10 came true on time.
Sweden raised child benefit by twice the promise: 200 kronor instead of 100. Croatia and Estonia raised benefits by less than promised; Japan never reached the promised birth grant.
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Before elections parties promise higher child benefits, birth grants and child tax allowances. Here are ten such promises from nine countries and how much of the promise was there by the deadline.
A row is one promise: who, what and by when. The question is whether at least half came true. Answer Yes or No, or just open the answer: each row gets its outcome and what actually came of it, the card a stamp counting those that came true. Quotes and links to the facts are below.
- Sweden: +100 kronor — Swedish Social Democratic Party, 2014 kronor a month above SEK 1,050 (the level since 2006)
promised 100 by 2018; fact 200 (200%). From 1 March 2018 the child benefit was SEK 1,250 a month, up SEK 200, twice the promised increase.
- Austria: €1,500 bonus — Sebastian Kurz, "the new People's Party" (ÖVP), 2017 euros a year — maximum Familienbonus Plus per child under 18
promised 1,500 by 2022; fact 2,000 (133%). A tax bonus of up to 1,500 euros per child was enacted in July 2018 and applies from 2019; from 2022 it is up to 2,000 euros.
BMF Österreich, Familienbonus Plus; Parlament, Jahressteuergesetz 2018
- UK: £15 a week — Labour Party (Tony Blair), 2001 pounds a week, Child Benefit for a one-child family
promised 15 by 2003; fact 16 (107%). Child Benefit for one child was £16.05 a week in 2003.
Department for Work and Pensions, Abstract of DWP benefit rate statistics 2025, data tables
- Germany: €250 — SPD, 2021 euros per month per child (Kindergeld, first child)
promised 250 by 2025; fact 255 (102%). Since 2023 child benefit has been 250 euros for every child, and 255 euros from 2025.
- Korea: 100,000 won — Moon Jae-in, 2017 10,000 won a month per child
promised 10 by 2018; fact 10 (100%). From September 2018 children under 6 received 100,000 won a month; the promised step-up of the amount had not happened by 2024.
- Greece: €2,000 once — Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 2018 euros of statutory birth allowance (children born from 1 January 2020, family income within the threshold)
promised 2,000 by 2020; fact 2,000 (100%). Law 4659/2020 introduced a 2,000-euro allowance for every child born from 1 January 2020 — in the new government's first budget year.
- Estonia: €75 — Estonian Centre Party, 2015 euros a month: child allowance (lapsetoetus) for the first and second child in a family
promised 75 by 2019; fact 60 (80%). In 2019 the allowance for the first and second child was 60 euros a month against the promised 75.
- Germany: adult allowance — CDU/CSU, 2017 euros a year — child tax allowance for both parents together, including the care and education allowance
promised 12,096 by 2025; fact 9,600 (79%). In 2025 the child allowance is 9,600 euros a year and the adult allowance (basic tax-free allowance) 12,096 euros: a gap of 2,496 euros. Since 2017 the child allowance rose from 7,356 euros.
- Croatia: double — Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), 2020 euros per child per month, highest child allowance rate
promised 79 by 2024; fact 62 (78%). The highest rate rose from 39.73 to 61.80 euros a month, 1.56 times rather than double.
- Japan: ¥550,000 a birth — Democratic Party of Japan, 2009 man-yen (10,000 yen) per birth, standard amount
promised 55 by 2011; fact 42 (76%). The grant stayed at 420,000 yen from 2011 until April 2023, then rose to 500,000 yen; 550,000 yen was never paid.
Министерство здравоохранения, труда и благосостояния Японии, «出産育児一時金の支給額・支給件数の推移»
Promises: verbatim from election programmes and candidates’ speeches. Fact: laws and benefit rates on welfare and tax agency sites at the deadline; each row links its source on the back. Outcome: «came true» — the promised number reached by the deadline («about» within 5%), an event happened before the end of the year promised; «exceeded» — with room to spare; «nearly» — short by no more than 10%; «late» — reached, but after the deadline; «did not come true» — not reached; «came true, then undone» — reached, then reversed. The deadline is the end of the year named.
Amounts are nominal, not adjusted for inflation. The payments differ: a monthly benefit, a one-off birth grant, a tax bonus or allowance. The deadline is the end of the term in which the promise was made.
A question for this picture
Which promise to families is easier to keep: a one-off payment or a monthly benefit?