KawiParent guide · the birth
Having a baby in Luxembourg: leave, benefits and paperwork, in order.
A baby is on the way, and with it a list of paperwork that nobody has explained to you in one go. Here is what matters, in the order you will need it: during pregnancy, at the birth, then in the months that follow. Each rule links to its official source, and our simulators do the maths for your situation.
Who does what
- The CNS (national health fund) pays maternity leave and covers your baby's health insurance.
- The Zukunftskeess (CAE, the children's future fund) pays parental leave, birth grants and family allowances.
- Your employer needs 2 months' notice for parental leave and birth leave; it advances the birth leave salary, which the State then reimburses.
- The commune of birth registers the birth, within 10 days.
Your timeline, from pregnancy to age 6
One date is enough: you get every deadline, with the real dates, from pregnancy to the start of primary school. Nothing is sent: the calculation runs in your browser, which will remember it next time.
Leave around the birth
- Maternity leave: 8 weeks before the expected due date and 12 weeks after the birth. If the baby comes early, the unused prenatal days are added at the end (maternity leave rules).
- Birth leave (or paternity leave): 10 days for the father or second parent, employed or self-employed (paternity leave rules).
- Parental leave: each parent is entitled to it, full-time, half-time or split, with an allowance. It is the biggest topic, covered in detail in the parental leave guide.
Who pays maternity leave? The CNS, not your employer. The benefit is based on your salary: never less than the social minimum wage, never more than 5 times that minimum. The leave counts as working time, so your paid holiday keeps building up (details on guichet.lu, in French). For birth leave, your employer advances the salary and is then reimbursed by the State.
During pregnancy: three things not to miss
The check-ups that unlock the first grant. The prenatal allowance requires at least 5 medical examinations and 1 dental examination, recorded on a form usually given by the gynaecologist. Note: examinations done by a midwife do not count for the grants (conditions set by the Zukunftskeess).
The first parental leave must be requested early. It has to be notified to the employer at least 2 months before maternity leave starts, or the right is lost. The exact dates for your due date, and the amount based on your salary, are in our parental leave guide and its simulator.
Birth leave needs notice too. The father or second parent tells the employer in writing at least 2 months before the planned dates. Without that notice, the 10 days are taken in one go, right after the birth.
At the birth: register your child within 10 days
Every birth is registered at the municipality where the child was born, not necessarily your own, within 10 days of the birth (the day of birth does not count; if the last day falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day). After that, a court decision is needed. Bring the birth notice from the doctor or midwife and your identity documents, plus your family record book if you are married (full list on guichet.lu).
If you are not Luxembourgish, register the child at the municipality first, then at your consulate or embassy. If you live across the border, the birth is still registered at the Luxembourg municipality where the child was born.
Money: birth grants and family allowance
The birth grants are paid in three instalments of €580.03: before the birth (the pregnancy check-ups), at the birth (a postnatal examination with the gynaecologist, form to send back with the birth certificate) and afterwards (6 examinations of the child during its first two years, by a paediatrician or doctor). They cannot be combined with a grant paid by your country of residence: cross-border workers claim at home first (details on cae.public.lu).
Then comes the family allowance, paid every month until the child turns 18. The amount for each of your children, by age, is in our family allowance simulator.
If you live across the border
Who insures your baby? The law of your country of residence decides, and the health fund of that country contacts the CNS (CNS leaflet on co-insurance, in French). If you both work in Luxembourg, your baby can be co-insured with the CNS: your home health fund adds them to the international form (S1). If one of you works in your country of residence, your baby is in principle covered there, with that parent (in France, on their Carte Vitale), and the CNS cannot co-insure them. Many families find out too late: check with both funds before the birth.
The birth certificate in your country. The birth is registered in the Luxembourg commune where your baby was born. If you are French, the certificate must then be transcribed into the French civil registry; other nationalities should contact their consulate. These steps can take time: start as soon as you have the Luxembourg certificate.
Childcare: daycare and the childcare voucher
When the leave ends, the question of daycare or a childminder comes up. The childcare voucher (chèque-service accueil) covers a large part of the price, depending on household income, with free hours from age 1. What would be left for you to pay is calculated in our childcare voucher guide.
And the language, from the cradle?
In Luxembourg, the language arrives early in a child's life: at daycare through multilingual education, then at age 3 in early education (précoce). If nobody speaks Luxembourgish at home, there is no rush before school, and it can all be learned gently: the four ways to bring the language into a young child's life.
The first words, later, together.
From age 3, Kawi lets your child hear the Luxembourgish classroom words through play, and you learn them alongside.