“A pleasant announcement that more than 227,000 children have benefited from the baby bonus since the start of the government’s program in January 2019,” Rama wrote in a post on the social media platform Facebook.

The baby bonus program is supported even during this year by the Albanian government. A fund of 2.2 billion lek, or 0.1% of GDP, has been allocated in the 2024 budget. The baby bonus program has been in effect since January 1, 2019. Over the past five years, this program has provided support to nearly 200,000 families who have welcomed newborns into their homes.

Specifically, 38,000 bonuses were disbursed in 2019, 36,000 in 2020, 44,000 in 2021, 43,000 in 2022, and around 29,000 bonuses in the first six months of 2023.

According to the amendments to the law on social assistance approved in October 2023, the baby subsidy will only be available to families living and contributing to Albania. The aim of the baby bonus scheme is to support families who live and contribute to the Republic of Albania, providing them with a financial subsidy to help cover the expenses related to the birth of children.

Through the baby bonus, Albanian families are supported with 40,000 lek for the birth of their first child; 80,000 lek for the birth of their second child; 120,000 lek for the birth of their third child, and so on for each subsequent child.

/sm/