The Civic Movement URA filed an initiative in Montenegro’s parliament on 28 October 2026 to double all child benefits from 1 January 2027. The proposed amendments to the Law on Social and Child Protection would raise the monthly payment for children up to 18 from 30 euros to 60 euros.
The MPs proposed the start date to allow the government to include the higher payments in the budget scheduled for adoption in December. URA MP Milena Vuković said the increase would require about 55 million euros a year.
Cost and household pressures
Vuković told a news conference at the Parliament of Montenegro that prices in the country rose by about 5.2% in 2025, while inflation stood at 5.2% in September 2026. She said an expected increase in wages next year showed that funds were available for higher child benefits, describing the measure as a responsibility towards children, parents and citizens.
“Every third child in Montenegro is on the brink of poverty,” Vuković said. She also said child benefits had once covered a larger share of the cost of children attending kindergartens, but that kindergartens and other costs of raising children had since become more expensive.
Vuković said the benefit levels were appropriate to Montenegro’s living standard when eligibility was expanded, but that the standard was no longer at the level it should be. The proposed change would lift payments for children up to 18 who currently receive 30 euros per month, according to the initiative.
Previous expansions and budget debate
After a change of government in 2020, the parliamentary majority at the time restored child benefits for children up to age six. During the government led by former Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, eligibility was extended to all children up to 18.
Vuković said a petition signed by more than 23,000 citizens was also before parliament. She said URA aimed to process all laws for which citizens had signed petitions.
She contrasted the proposed annual benefit cost with fiscal estimates for the “euromodel” announced by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, which she said some assessments put at about 1 billion euros for the state. Vuković argued that the estimated cost of the model should not prevent the government from allocating an additional 55 million euros for children.
Vuković also said the increase had been discussed for nearly four years and pointed to Montenegro’s 33 ministries, 33 ministers and a large number of state secretaries and advisers. If funds were available for parts of the state administration considered necessary, she said, the additional 55 million euros for children should not be a problem. She also invoked Montenegro’s constitutional status as a state of social justice.
