OPEKA payment dates: child benefit, housing allowance, disability and minimum income

Greek welfare benefits come from ΟΠΕΚΑ (OPEKA; Οργανισμός Προνοιακών Επιδομάτων και Κοινωνικής Αλληλεγγύης, Organismos Pronoiakon Epidomaton kai Koinonikis Allilengyis), the state Organisation for Welfare Benefits and Social Solidarity.³ ΟΠΕΚΑ pays each month's benefits in one main batch and announces the exact date in a press release shortly before.³ On Wednesday 30 September 2026, for example, it paid €258,869,403 to 1,008,093 beneficiaries.³

We found no published annual calendar, but the 2026 releases show a clear pattern: monthly benefits on the last working day of the month, and child benefit every second month.³¹² This guide sets out that pattern, the dates so far and what ΟΠΕΚΑ has not yet announced. It does not cover social-insurance pensions; for those, see our pension payment dates guide. ΟΠΕΚΑ does pay one pension itself, the pension for uninsured elderly people (σύνταξη ανασφάλιστων υπερηλίκων), which came to €4,481,123.83 for 11,376 people in the 30 September 2026 batch.³

When does ΟΠΕΚΑ pay?

ΟΠΕΚΑ paid its monthly benefits on the last working day of each month from January to September 2026, with one exception, by our check against the calendar.^11109876543 The exception was July: 31 July 2026 was a Friday, but ΟΠΕΚΑ paid on Thursday 30 July 2026.⁵ Its release gives no reason.⁵

ΟΠΕΚΑ announced each 2026 payment between one and four calendar days in advance, which is one or two working days, by our calculation.^11109876543 So the rule is a strong habit rather than a guarantee, and the date is only certain once the release is out.

Which benefits are paid when?

ΟΠΕΚΑ states the payment rule for the housing allowance and for child benefit.¹⁶¹² For the other benefits below, it does not state a frequency on the pages we read, but each appears in every 2026 monthly release, so they are paid monthly by our reading of the releases.^3456811

The housing allowance is not paid if the applicant has not declared a bank account number in the application.¹⁶ Its approval lasts six months, after which a new application is needed, and the amount is €70 to €210 a month depending on household size.¹⁶ Our housing schemes guide covers it in more detail.

The birth allowance is €2,400 for a first child, €2,700 for a second, €3,000 for a third and €3,500 for a fourth or later child.¹⁸ ΟΠΕΚΑ pays the first half the month after the birth, if the application is made and approved within the month of birth, and the second half five months after the month of birth.¹⁸ The application must be made within three months of the birth.¹⁸

The social solidarity allowance for uninsured elderly people (επίδομα κοινωνικής αλληλεγγύης ανασφάλιστων υπερηλίκων) of €418.95 a month is for people aged 67 or over with 20 years' permanent and legal residence in Greece.¹⁹

In the 30 September 2026 batch, disability benefits came to €103,333,424.35 for 213,681 beneficiaries and the housing allowance to €18,612,869.37 for 156,988.³ The minimum guaranteed income came to €33,290,990.17 for 144,418 beneficiaries paid by prepaid card, plus €136,268.82 for 582 paid without a card.³

When is child benefit (Α21) paid?

Child benefit, known by its application form number Α21, is paid every two months, on the last working day of the payment month.¹²ΕΛ ΟΠΕΚΑ's benefit page still says the money goes into an active bank account, but since 30 May 2025 child benefit has been paid onto a prepaid card (see below).²⁰⁵

ΟΠΕΚΑ paid the 2026 instalments so far on Tuesday 31 March, Friday 29 May, Thursday 30 July and Wednesday 30 September 2026.⁹⁷⁵³ The January 2026 release also lists a smaller child-benefit payment, €9,229,503 to 16,699 beneficiaries, without saying what it covers.¹¹ Α21 does not appear in the February, April, June or August 2026 releases.¹⁰⁸⁶⁴

The monthly amount per child is €70, €42 or €28 for the first and second child, depending on income, and €140, €84 or €56 for the third and each later child.¹² The Α21 application platform can close while an instalment is cleared: before the fourth instalment it closed on Friday 11 September 2026 at 18:00 and reopened on 5 October.¹⁵²

The fourth instalment and the 9 October payment

ΟΠΕΚΑ paid the fourth 2026 instalment on Wednesday 30 September 2026: €70,584,787.15 to 422,148 beneficiaries.³ Some applications could not be cleared in time. With the new school year starting, data on children moving up to the next class were not yet available, which ΟΠΕΚΑ put down to a technical problem at ΗΔΥΚΑ (IDYKA; Ηλεκτρονική Διακυβέρνηση Υγείας και Κοινωνικής Ασφάλισης, Ilektroniki Diakyvernisi Ygeias kai Koinonikis Asfalisis), the state company for e-government in health and social security.²²² ΟΠΕΚΑ repeated the clearance and made an extraordinary payment («έκτακτη πληρωμή»), which it later called supplementary («συμπληρωματική»), on Friday 9 October 2026.²¹

ΗΔΥΚΑ was called ΗΔΙΚΑ until Law 5263/2025 renamed it.²² It hosts the Α21 application platform at idika.gr.¹

The 9 October 2026 payment went to 49,545 beneficiaries who had applied on time and came to €7,671,724.02, bringing the fourth instalment to €78,256,511.17.¹ΕΛ By our calculation, the two payments add up exactly to that total and reached 471,693 beneficiaries between them.³¹ Our brief of 8 October 2026 reported the supplementary payment.

When is the next child-benefit payment?

ΟΠΕΚΑ has said only that applications still under review will be included in "the November 2026 payment" if approved, in our translation.¹ It has not given a date.¹

Greek outlets expect the fifth instalment, for September and October, on Monday 30 November 2026.²⁴²⁵ They expect the sixth, for November and December, between 18 or 19 and 24 December 2026; the reports differ on the first day.²⁴²⁵²³ Τα Νέα itself says these dates may be confirmed or set more precisely by later ΟΠΕΚΑ announcements, in our translation.²⁴ Treat them as expectations, not dates.

ΟΠΕΚΑ's child-benefit page adds that the sixth two-month instalment of each year may be paid up to 31 December of that year.¹²ΕΛ ΟΠΕΚΑ has not announced a December date.¹²⁹

When will October's benefits be paid?

ΟΠΕΚΑ's most recent monthly payment release, published on 28 September 2026, covers September.³ When we checked its press releases on 13 October 2026, it had not yet announced the October date.²⁹ By our calculation, 30 October 2026 is a Friday and 31 October 2026 a Saturday. One private website, whose name, Οδηγός του Πολίτη ("Citizen's Guide"), sounds official, already gives Friday 30 October 2026.²⁷ We do not repeat that as a date, because July 2026 showed that ΟΠΕΚΑ does not always follow the rule.⁵ We will update this guide when ΟΠΕΚΑ publishes its release.

Can I still apply for 2026 child benefit?

Yes. The Α21 platform reopened on Monday 5 October 2026 at 08:00 and accepts new applications or changes to existing ones until Friday 13 November 2026 at 18:00.²¹ You apply online at idika.gr/epidomapaidiou or through ΟΠΕΚΑ's website, using Taxisnet codes (the tax authority's online login).¹¹⁴ Applicants give each child's school, class and registration number, because school attendance is one of the conditions checked.¹¹⁴

New 2026 child-benefit (Α21) applications close on Friday 13 November 2026 at 18:00.¹

ΟΠΕΚΑ's own child-benefit FAQ still says applications run "from March of each year up to and including 15 January of the following year", in our translation.¹³ The 2026 practice differs: the platform opened on Friday 27 February 2026,¹⁴ and the current round closes on Friday 13 November 2026 at 18:00.¹ ΟΠΕΚΑ has not said whether another round will follow.¹ Go by the dated announcements.

Who qualifies if you are not Greek?

For Α21, five years' legal and permanent residence in Greece is required of Greek citizens, ethnic Greeks with foreign nationality (ομογενείς, omogeneis), EU and EEA citizens, and non-EU nationals or stateless people who have been granted refugee status, subsidiary protection or residence on humanitarian grounds.¹³ Citizens of other countries need 12 years' legal and permanent residence before the year of the Α21 application.¹³

The housing allowance has a similar rule: non-EU nationals other than ethnic Greeks need 12 years' legal and permanent residence before the application.¹⁶ The two rules count differently: for Α21 the 12 years run up to the year of the application, for the housing allowance up to the application itself.¹³¹⁶

For the minimum guaranteed income, EU citizens must provide an EU citizen registration certificate or a permanent-residence certificate.¹⁷ Holders of an asylum-seeker card or of a "special certificate of legal residence" (in our translation) cannot apply.¹⁷ Minor children do not need a residence permit.¹⁷

How does the prepaid card work?

ΟΠΕΚΑ pays child benefit, the minimum guaranteed income, the birth allowance and the foster-care allowance onto prepaid cards.⁵ The cards started on 15 March 2025, and child benefit moved to them on 30 May 2025.²⁰ You can withdraw up to 50% of each payment in cash.²⁰²⁸ The cards work only in Greece and other EU countries, and withdrawals and payments with them carry no charges.²⁰ Payment service providers («Πάροχοι Υπηρεσιών Πληρωμών»; banks and similar firms) issue them through a process linked to Taxisnet.²⁰

When does the money reach the account?

Greek outlets report that ΟΠΕΚΑ money usually shows at ATMs in the afternoon of the previous working day; Dnews says after 17:00.²⁶²⁷ ΟΠΕΚΑ itself does not say this in the releases we read.³

Where to check

ΟΠΕΚΑ posts each payment release on opeka.gov.gr, usually one or two working days before the payment, by our calculation.³⁴²⁹ ΟΠΕΚΑ's website lists 1555 as a free 24-hour helpline.²¹¹⁷ We update this guide as dates are announced.

For other payments, see our guides to the November 2026 rent refund and the €400 payment for pensioners, and our explainer on average Greek pensions. Our report on the Greek Ombudsman's pension and benefit cases includes a change at ΟΠΕΚΑ.