Benefit to care for a child with a handicap, chronic disease or oncological illness

• Beneficiaries of the social security system covered by the scheme of: employees, self-employed workers and beneficiaries of the voluntary social insurance (Scientific Research Fellows)
• Pre-retirement recipients, in a situation of reduced work performance
• Beneficiaries receiving relative invalidity pension or survivor's pension who are working and with registration of pay-slips in the Social Security.

If necessary to care for a disabled child, with chronic illness or cancer.

• The father or the mother or any other person holding parental rights, to take care for a disabled child, or with chronic illness  or cancer, belonging to the same household , if the other parent is working, does not  claim the same benefit or is unable to provide assistance.
• 6 continuous or non-continuous calendar months with registration of pay-slips at the date of the contingency, taking into consideration, if necessary, the month in which the contingency occurs, if in that month there was registration of pay-slips (qualifying period).
• All periods of compulsory affiliation to any social protection scheme providing for maternity cash benefits, including the civil servants scheme, with registration of pay-slips, shall be considered, insofar as they do not overlap.
• You must have taken all the non-remunerated leaves, absences or equivalent periods under the Labour Code dispositions.

The termination or suspension of the labour contract does not affect the right to the benefits.

For a period of up to 6 months, renewable up to a limit of 4 years.

If you need to extend the assistance, the limit can be of 6 years, as long as a specialist doctor issues a Declaration attesting this need. 

In this case, you must inform Social Security within 10 working days, before the end of the leave, that it will be extended.

Daily amount: 65% of the reference earnings.

The reference earnings are calculated using the formula:

RE = R/180, whereby

R means the total earnings registered in the 6 calendar months preceding the second month prior to the fact that determined the protection (excluding holidays, Christmas and other similar bonuses).

If the qualifying period is not accomplished due to aggregation of contributory periods, the reference earnings are calculated in another way. 

You can apply for the benefit through:

• The Segurança Social Direta, at www.seg-social.pt
• The form Mod.RP5053-DGSS, accompanied by the documents indicated therein, to be submitted:
  • At the Social Security office
  • At the citizen's shops.

If the subsidy is applied for online, at the Segurança Social Direta, the means of proof can be sent by the same route as long as they are correctly scanned.

Time limit for the claim

The claim must be presented within a period of 6 months of the first day of no longer working.

If the claim is presented late, there will be a corresponding reduction in the period of concession.

You may be entitled to the Benefits compensating for holidays and Christmas bonuses, so in your own interest please read this document.