PROBLEMS FOR FATHERS RECEIVING CHILD CARE BENEFITS More than 7,300 fathers in Austria receive child care benefits; in in some cases problematic situations may arise. Family N.N. has two children; both cared for by the father. While the father was receiving child care benefits for the older child, the second child was born. Shortly after his daughter's birth, Mr. N.N. visited a doctor and learned that his health insurance card (e-card) had been blocked and that he currently had no health insurance. The Vienna Regional Health Insurance Office informed him that based on receipt of child care benefits, he would not have health insurance until his partner’s maternity benefit had ended. The AOB was able to clarify quickly that this information was in­correct. The blocking of the e-card was based on a technical error by the Regional Health Insurance Office. The current legal situation ensures that the father continues to have health insurance based on receipt of child care benefits even while the mother is receiving the maternity benefit. E-card blocked due Another problem, however, could not be resolved. If during receipt of the child care benefit another child is born, the father’s child care benefit is reduced by the mother’s maternity benefit. In the opinion of the AOB, this represents a disadvantage for families, in which the father cares for the children. A family with two parents, in which the children are cared for by the mother, have both the mother’s maternity benefit and the income of the employed father during the eight weeks after the birth of the second child. A family, in which the father is responsible for child care, must make do solely with the mother’s maternity benefit. This is probably not the intention of the legislator. The child care benefit was introduced to compensate the temporary loss of an (usually second) income. The legislator thus stipulated it as an important contribution to financial security while starting a family. Maternity benefits The regulation states that the claim to child care benefits while receiving a maternity benefit after the birth of another child are suspended, respectively, reduced by the amount of the maternity benefit. In the opinion of the AOB, this provision can be interpreted in conformance with the Constitution in the sense that this does not apply to the father’s child care benefits while the mother is receiving a maternity benefit. Opinion of the AOB to technical error affect child care benefits for fathers 43