DN: Two PhD students from two different MSCA Doctoral Network projects have a cohabiting status. Can the family allowance be applied in this case, and can both PhD students receive family allowance?

Yes, they are both eligible if their status has been officially recognised as “equivalent to marriage” in the country where it was registered.

PF: How can the rules for the MSCA family allowance be interpreted in case of a divorced parent who has their child in joint custody?

In case of joint custody, the fellow is still eligible for family allowance.

PF, DN: How can applicants check if their registered partnership makes them eligible to receive the family allowance in MSCA?

NCPs in each country usually check what is considered as “equivalent to marriage” in this country.

PF: An applicant will have their wedding a week after the submission deadline. Are they entitled to family allowance?

The situation should be presented as it is at the time of submission. If they acquire family obligations during the action duration, then they would become eligible for family allowance.

PF: Can the family allowance be paid without being taxed?

Payment of the family allowance should be in accordance with the national legislation.

In many European countries, the family allowance is usually paid together with the living and mobility allowances as salary and the whole amount is taxed (everything is included in the salary in the employment contract).

However, there are cases where the beneficiary can pay the family allowance outside the salary, if allowed by the national legislation and the beneficiary internal rules. Please refer to the HR service of the Beneficiary and to your MSCA National Contact Points.

PF: A researcher supports financially on a voluntary basis a child to whom they are far-related. Is this researcher eligible for a family allowance?

The Commission could demand some kind of evidence from the researcher to claim the family allowance. If there is a legal document proving the researcher supports the child they should be eligible, if it is just the researcher’s declaration, they should be ineligible.

DN/ PF: Is the family allowance also included into the calculation of the long-term leave allowance?

To calculate the unit rate of the long-term leave allowance only living and mobility allowances should be taken into account.

In Doctoral Networks and Postdoctoral Fellowships, a long-term leave allowance can cover costs incurred by beneficiaries in case of researchers’ long-term leave, including maternity, paternity, parental, sick or special leave, longer than 30 consecutive days.

In this case, NO living, mobility or family allowances can be claimed for the researcher concerned (for the months that the long-term leave allowance is claimed).

The unit rate of the long-term leave allowance is set at a level identical to the sum of the applicable living and mobility allowances for doctoral candidates in Doctoral Networks and postdoctoral researchers in Postdoctoral Fellowships.

When claiming their costs, beneficiaries must indicate the duration of the contribution paid by the employer (in person-months) and the share of the whole remuneration costs (in % of the long-term leave allowance) that the employer had to actually cover during that period as required under the applicable national legislation.

 

Contribution calculation:

Long-term leave allowance applicable rate * duration in months of the period of leave to be covered * % of long-term leave allowance incurred by the beneficiary.

 

Percentage of long-term leave allowance incurred by the beneficiary calculation:

{The amount of the costs actually incurred by the beneficiary per month/Long-term leave allowance applicable rate} * 100

 

Beneficiaries must declare that they have incurred additional costs linked to a long-term leave, the duration of the leave and the part of the remuneration not covered by other sources such as social security. Supporting documents to justify the claim will have to be kept on file and be available upon request (e.g. in case of audit).

COFUND: How much should be included in the family allowance?

In deciding how much to include, note that REA in the Doctoral Networks call advises to calculate family allowance on the basis of 75% of applicants can avail of it i.e. 75% of 660 euro (per person month). In Horizon Europe, applicants can become eligible for the family allowance at any stage of the action and not just at recruitment.

DN: What happens to the family allowance received by a beneficiary at the end of a Doctoral Network if the candidate is not eligible for it?

Any surplus family allowance is returned to the European Commission at the final payment.

PF: A postdoctoral researcher is pregnant. Will the duration of the Grant Agreement be extended if the person asks to work part-time when the child is born? Would the fellowship be extended so that she can work the exact full-time equivalent duration which was planned at the proposal stage, without extra money granted by the EC?

According to the MSCA Work Programme 2021-2022 and the MGA for Unit Grants, the researcher may request to work for part-time for personal or family reasons. If agreed, this amendment would result in adaptation of the end date of the project and the beneficiary should report costs as pro rata of the applicable full-time unit contributions. Indeed, no additional allowances will be due, as this part-time cannot be considered as a long-term leave.

PF: A postdoctoral researcher is pregnant. Will the duration of the Grant Agreement be extended to ensure they get the full number of person months originally foreseen in the GA?

If an amendment to suspend the action has been concluded, then the duration of the action will be extended equal to the duration of the suspension as to ensure the full number of person months originally foreseen in the Grant is implemented.

PF/ DN: Can a researcher ask for family allowance in case they have a 100% disabled sibling that needs assistance but who is not completely alone as they have a partner?

There has to be a legal obligation - the example is marriage or marriage-like, or dependent children. Since the researcher is not responsible for their disabled sibling they cannot qualify for family allowance, especially if the sibling has a partner.

PF: Is a MSCA Fellow eligible to receive family allowance if they fulfil the MSCA family allowance eligibility criteria even if their partner wouldn’t live in the country in which the MSCA fellowship is supposed to take place?

Yes – they don’t have to move with the fellow. The obligation is the decisive fact.

PF: Is PACS considered as an ‘equivalent status to a marriage’ in France? Will a family allowance be granted in case of a successful PF application from a fellow with a PACS?

Yes, PACS is considered as an equivalent status to a marriage in France.

PF and DN: When a fellow informs about the change of situation, either being newly entitled to the family allowance, or, on the contrary, no longer, from when should the allowance be given or stopped?

The change would be implemented from the time the allowance is or is no longer eligible according to the documentation. So if the divorce comes into force on 1 September, then that is the month the researcher is no longer eligible for the family allowance. 

In case the family status of a fellow changes during the course of a project, the initial mobility declaration will need to be updated and a new mobility declaration (with the updated family status of the fellow) submitted.
More precisely, in the initial mobility declaration, the end date of the recruitment will need to be modified as follows: the end date will be changed to one day before the fellow acquired a family.
A new mobility declaration will need to be submitted with as a start date, the first day the fellow can be considered as having a family.
In case beneficiaries are confronted with this situation, they should always consult their project officers for further guidance. This change may require an amendment to increase the EU contribution of the project, therefore it is crucial that the project officer is informed.

PF and DN: What happens if a researcher gets divorced and has no kids? Does this mean that the researcher is no longer entitled to receive the Family Allowance?

Yes, if the situation of the researcher changes, the Family Allowance can become ineligible. If the relationship is no longer bound through marriage/ other legal agreement, then they are no longer eligible to receive the allowance.

The researcher is obligated to inform of this change of situation if it occurs.

DN: How is the family allowance calculated for MSCA Doctoral Networks, as more fellows are entitled to receive the family allowance, given the possibility to receive it in case of change of family status during the MSCA fellowship?

Regarding the estimation of the family allowance budget for a Doctoral Network, there is a footnote (number 37) which starts on page 79 of the MGA for Unit Grants and continues on page 80, which states:

“Average based on the amount for the family allowance set out in the Horizon Europe Work Programme (MSCA Work Programme part) in force at the time of the call (75% of the number of units with family, 25% without).”