Nafis sets two cases for Emirati women in private sector to receive child allowance
Eligible families will receive Dh600 a month for every qualifying child from September
Abu Dhabi: Emirati women working in the private sector and married to Emirati men can receive the Nafis child allowance in two circumstances, the Emirati Talent Competitiveness Council has clarified, ahead of wider changes to the programme taking effect in September.
The allowance is available where the husband has died, or where the woman is supporting her children because her husband is unable to earn or is unemployed.
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Proof of dependency must be established through a court decision, while incapacity to work requires confirmation from an official medical authority. A wife must declare that an unemployed husband is not working, with the declaration made under legal responsibility.
The Council also clarified that Nafis does not provide the same child allowance to Emirati women working in the private sector who are married to non-Emirati men.
That benefit is distinct from a new Nafis programme providing salary support to eligible children of Emirati mothers who themselves work in the private sector, which takes effect under the programme’s September reforms.
Dh600 for every eligible child
From September, the child allowance for Emiratis working in eligible private-sector and banking establishments will be Dh600 a month for each qualifying child, with the previous limit of four children removed. The employee’s monthly salary must not exceed Dh50,000.
For sons, payments continue until they turn 21 or begin working, whichever comes first. For daughters, eligibility continues until they marry or start work. Families cannot receive duplicate social allowances for the same children.
The allowance is also not payable where the spouse works for a federal or local government entity. Beneficiaries cannot simultaneously receive a salary or retirement pension from a federal or local authority, except where the pension has been inherited from a deceased person.
The removal of the four-child ceiling forms part of a broader overhaul of Nafis announced after the programme was extended until 2040. The Council linked the changes to the UAE’s Year of Family 2026 and efforts to strengthen family stability and quality of life.
The Council has pushed back against suggestions that repeated changes indicate the original scheme was insufficiently planned, arguing instead that the allowance has evolved through several stages as Nafis has expanded.
The benefit moved from its initial regulatory framework to a Dh600 monthly payment capped at four children, and will now cover every eligible child without a numerical ceiling.
New family support schemes
The September changes go beyond the child allowance. Nafis is introducing a salary-support programme for children of Emirati mothers working in the private sector, with support of up to Dh3,000 a month for eligible beneficiaries.
Requirements include a monthly salary of between Dh6,000 and Dh20,000 and at least a bachelor’s degree accredited by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
A separate programme will provide salary support of up to Dh3,000 a month for wives of Emirati men who work in the private sector. Eligible women generally must earn between Dh6,000 and Dh15,000, hold at least an accredited bachelor’s degree and meet family-status requirements set by the programme.
Nafis has also standardised the minimum monthly salary for eligibility across its support programmes at Dh6,000. The new framework begins in September for new beneficiaries, while some changes affecting existing recipients will be phased in.
Changes are also being made to the Subscription Programme for pension contributions. Nafis will continue to cover the contribution assigned under the scheme to eligible Emirati employees, while private-sector employers will be responsible for paying their legally required employer share from September.
The wider reforms come after Nafis reported that more than 176,000 Emiratis had been placed in private-sector employment since the programme was launched, with 152,000 beneficiaries working across 32,000 establishments by the end of March.
Women accounted for 74 per cent of private-sector beneficiaries, while more than 38,000 children had received support through the child allowance scheme.
