They are calling for the abolition of income criteria altogether, and for a policy that also addresses the demographic problem. At the upper income brackets, the actual benefit is limited, according to the Organisation of Large Families, to around €30 a month for a child and €15 for a student, while, in a real family's case, a student's monthly cost approaches €1,700.
On the other side, the Chairman of the Fiscal Council, Andreas Charalambous, argues that social policy must be targeted, and that even in the case of large families, support should go to those with the greatest need.
What isn't visible
"The new announcements are a step in the right direction, since the amounts are increasing and the income thresholds are being significantly widened. They still fall far short, however, of abolishing income criteria for large families, of correcting the injustices that have built up over the past 15 years, and, above all, of the overhaul we believe the demographic problem now requires," the Public Relations Officer of the Pancyprian Organisation of Large Families, Ioannikios Fakas, told Politis. According to Fakas, the new €100,000 threshold for four dependent children gives the impression, at first glance, of a very large expansion in support.
"Those with greater need for support in the private sector are low-pension recipients, the unemployed, new entrants to the labour market and foreign nationals," according to the Chairman of the Fiscal Council, Andreas Charalambous.
"But we need to separate two different things: up to what income a family receives 100% of this particular benefit, and up to what income it remains entitled only to a much smaller amount."
As he points out, €100,000 is not a threshold for full, continuous support for a large family. It marks the point at which four recognised dependent children still coexist, and even at that upper level, the family receives only around 25% of the benefit.
"This is exactly where the system's calculation of dependent children breaks down. As the children grow up, the same large family moves from four dependants to three, to two, and eventually to one," he stresses.
"For a large family to receive 100% of the benefit continuously, the real critical threshold works out at €54,000. Even to keep the minimum level of support, around 25%, the critical threshold is €69,000. That's very different from the general impression that 'large families are now covered up to €100,000'," he points out.
What the income pyramid shows
According to data from the Statistical Service, in 2024, 27.8% of the population fell into the lowest income class, with an equivalised disposable income of up to €15,500. Next came 22.2% in the lower middle class and 30.7% in the middle middle class.
According to Fakas, running an indicative simulation for a family of six, and assuming, for comparison purposes only, that around 75% of gross income counts as disposable income and that the family's equivalence factor is 3.5, the following emerges:
€54,000 → approximately €11,570 equivalised disposable income
€69,000 → approximately €14,790
€74,000 → approximately €15,860
€100,000 → approximately €21,430
"The picture is revealing. For a large family to secure full, continuous support, it has to sit very low on the income pyramid. Even for a reduced, continuous level of support of around 25%, this simulation places its income in the lowest income class. By contrast, even a family of six with a gross income of €100,000 ends up at around €21,400 in equivalised disposable income, effectively the middle middle income class, not the higher income brackets," he stresses.
"For a large family to be fully and continuously supported as its children grow up, it essentially has to stay low-income," he adds.
The real cost of children
At the same time, Fakas notes, there's also the question of real cost, which income thresholds alone don't capture. "We have a real example of a large family with a gross household income of around €90,000, where, based on a record of actual expenses, the cost works out at around €750 a month for a child under 16." That figure covers food, clothing, education, activities, transport, entertainment, medical care and, more broadly, the costs of raising a child.
Once a child becomes a student, though, particularly if they study away from home, the real cost can reach around €1,700 a month, once rent, food, transport, tuition fees where applicable, and other study-related expenses are added up. "These aren't official average figures for all families, but a real-life family example. They do, however, point to a very significant paradox: the child grows up and their real cost can more than double, while at the same time the system gradually starts removing them from the count of dependent children and cutting the family's support," he stresses.
At the upper income brackets, he notes, "we're talking about a genuinely small benefit: around €30 a month for a child and, in the student example, around €15 a month, when the student's real monthly cost can approach €1,700."
Resentment among large families
As he stresses, today's reaction isn't only about the latest announcements. "There's accumulated resentment built up over roughly 15 years, during which large families saw benefits and forms of recognition abolished or significantly cut back," he says.
Among other things, the large-family car scheme was scrapped, access to the student grant and the honorary pension allowance for mothers of large families was restricted, while, according to Fakas, "distortions" persist in tiered charges for basic goods such as water and electricity.
"A family of six naturally uses more water and electricity than a family of two. Higher consumption isn't necessarily waste or luxury, it's simply a consequence of how many people live in the home. Against this backdrop, large families had been expecting the President to follow through on his pre-election pledge to abolish income criteria for them."
"The announcements are a step in the right direction, but fall far short of abolishing income criteria, correcting the injustices accumulated over the past 15 years, and building a comprehensive family policy," he stresses.
The demographic dimension matters most
According to Fakas, child benefit shouldn't be viewed purely as a poverty-relief measure. "If we want it to also serve demographic policy, its underlying philosophy needs to change. We believe support for having and raising children should reach all families, especially large ones. Stable financial security and substantial family support create more favourable conditions for couples to go on and have more children," he argues.
"If child benefit is only an anti-poverty tool, the debate can stay limited to income criteria. But if we want it to also work as a demographic tool, support needs to follow the child and the family, rather than disappearing because the parents worked, earned more, or because an older child stops counting, on paper, as a dependant. A genuine demographic policy needs to give families security and predictability from a child's birth right through to the end of their education."
69% drop in the number of beneficiaries
According to data from the Pancyprian Organisation of Large Families, recent years have seen a continuous decline in the number of Cypriot large-family beneficiaries of child benefit. Beneficiaries fell from 10,065 in 2012 to just 3,166 in 2024, a total drop of around 69% over twelve years.
The downward trend appears in almost every year of the period examined, reflecting a marked decline in the number of large families receiving the benefit.
For a large family to receive full, continuous support as its children grow up, it must essentially remain low-income," states the representative of the Pancyprian Organisation of Large Families, Ioannikios Fakas, categorically.
The data point to the demographic challenges facing Cyprus, since the decline in large families is directly linked to low birth rates and an ageing population.
Foreign-national large-family beneficiaries are moving in the opposite direction. While the number of beneficiaries hovered around 500 during 2012–2018, it has climbed steadily since 2019, rising from 586 in 2019 to 839 in 2024. Overall, the number of beneficiaries rose by 84% compared to 2012, reflecting the growing share of this group among all large families receiving child benefit.
Targeted policy, not universal measures
At a time when the need for additional support is pressing, the Chairman of the Fiscal Council, Andreas Charalambous, told Politis that the state's social policy needs to be targeted.
The overwhelming majority of measures currently in place are universal, he stresses, without actually achieving the goal of supporting vulnerable groups within the population.
Based on research, he says, those with greater need for support in the private sector are low-pension recipients, the unemployed, new entrants to the labour market, and foreign nationals.
"Even for large families, we need to target those with the greatest need," he stresses. According to Charalambous, population ageing is a universal phenomenon across developed economies, adding that benefits policy doesn't affect that trend, and so must be targeted instead.
