Updated: 22.12.2025.
A child's parent (also a guardian or another person who, in accordance with the decision of the Orphan's Court, is caring for a child) who is a worker or self-employed, if he or she cannot come into employment because of the care of a sick child and loses income derived from employment or from economic activity, and to whom the doctor has issued a sick-leave sheet B in connection with a sick child home or hospital care.
If, for any objective reason, the sick child cannot be groomed by the parents of the child, the doctor may also issue a sick-leave sheet B for the care of a sick child to the grandparent, adult brother or sister, the parent spouse. . They are also entitled to sickness benefits if they are employed (workers or self-employed).
The doctor shall issue the sick certificate B regarding the care of a sick child from the first day of the child's illness.
Sickness benefits may be obtained if a sick child under 14 years of age is being groomed (not reached 14 years of age).
If a child has been diagnosed with severe illness, the sickness allowance may be obtained if a child under 18 years of age is groomed. . These are cases where:
- In issuing an opinion, the doctor consilia of the State SIA “Children's Clinical University Hospital” has determined the need for the continued presence of the parent due to a severe illness, which requires the child to have long-term treatment in a hospital medical facility;
- care allowance for a child with disabilities has been granted for the child.
The opinion of the doctor's consyria shall be received by the State Social Insurance Agency (VSAA) electronically and the parent shall not be required to submit this document when requesting sickness benefits. . The SAA shall also have at its disposal information on the child for whom the child's disability care allowance has been granted.
In determining the amount of the sickness allowance, the average salary of the insurance contribution calculated for the parent (or the person to whom the sick sheet B has been issued) shall be taken into account. .
A sickness benefit is paid to an employee or a self-employed person for the period during which the person is unable to work and loses income due to illness.
If a child under the age of 14 becomes ill, the doctor, from the first day of the child’s illness, issues the parent a B certificate of incapacity for work with the reason “care of a sick child”, “care of a sick child in an inpatient facility”, or “care of a child with bone fractures”. On the basis of the certificate of incapacity, the State Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) grants and pays the sickness benefit for the following periods:
- from the 1st to the 14th day of the child’s illness if the child is cared for at home;
- from the 1st to the 21st day of the child’s illness if part of the sickness period the child is treated in an inpatient facility;
- from the 1st to the 30th day of illness if the child is cared for due to an injury associated with a bone fracture.
Sickness benefit for the care of a seriously ill child
1. If a child under the age of 18 is ill and has been diagnosed with a severe illness, and in addition to a B certificate the medical council has issued an opinion confirming the necessity of the parent’s continuous presence, the SSIA grants and pays the sickness benefit:
- in the case of continuous illness – for the period determined by the medical council, which may not exceed a three-month period at a time (and in total not longer than 26 weeks (half a year), counted from the child’s first day of illness);
- if the child becomes ill intermittently – for no longer than three years within a five-year period.
If the treatment is very long-term and the child requires the parent’s continuous presence, two medical council opinions may be issued for one continuous illness case.
If the medical council’s opinion is not issued, the right to sickness benefit for the care of a sick child is determined under the general procedure, i.e., the same as for the care of a child under 14.
2. If a child under the age of 18 has been granted a care allowance for a child with a disability, the SSIA grants and pays the sickness benefit:
- in the case of continuous illness – for no longer than 26 weeks (half a year), counted from the first day of illness;
- if the child becomes ill intermittently – for no longer than three years within a five-year period.
Thus, if the State Medical Commission for the Assessment of Health Condition and Working Ability has determined the need for special care, on the basis of which the child receives the disability care allowance, a medical council opinion is not required for granting the sickness benefit.
In both cases, the conditions for the payment of the sickness benefit apply regardless of whether the child is cared for throughout the entire sickness period by one parent (one person) or by several persons in succession, and also regardless of the reason indicated in the certificate of incapacity for work.
Taxation
When paying the sickness benefit, personal income tax is withheld from the calculated amount.
The SSIA applies the taxpayer’s non-taxable minimum, as well as personal income tax allowances for dependants, and additional tax relief for persons with disabilities, politically repressed persons and participants of the national resistance movement, if the person is entitled to such allowances.
The amount of the sickness benefit can be estimated using the SSIA’s sickness benefit calculator.
The translation has been prepared using a machine translation tool.