Benefits for newly graduated student

[Enimhaol]

I am a 21 year old student who is graduating in the end of May, and I am due to give birth at the end of July. I will be unable to work between now and then due to the nature of my degree, as well as my living situation as I live with my parents with no access to public transport and I can’t drive. When the baby arrives I will no longer be able to live at home due to space issues and will have to move out. I will be moving to Austria to live with my partner who will still be in university until the end of 2026. I will have no income and have very little savings. I have no idea where or how to apply for funding to help pay for rent for the first few months until I can start working. His income will not be sufficient to support the three of us and I can’t get any support from my family as my parents are retired and only one has a pension. Any recommendations on how I can make money or what type of grant to apply for would be super useful! Thanks

https://eures.europa.eu/living-and-working/living-and-working-conditions-europe/living-and-working-conditions-austria_en

This gives you advice on living and working in Austria as an EU citizen.
Three months stay - no conditions, no access to benefits.
Thereafter if you wish to remain you must be able to show you can support yourself and any dependents without access to public funds and that you have health insurance.

You may acquire more rights if you are married.

OP isn’t going to acquire any extra rights for being married because the person she’s marrying isn’t a citizen there either.

We are together, not married though. He is a university student and therefore can’t get a full time job to provide for us, I won’t be able to work whilst being very pregnant and receive no financial support at all from my family. It’s a very difficult situation

He’s Hungarian studying in austria

He can work full time if he drops out. He has a family to support now, so will just have to pick up his studies later.

You’re making it more difficult OP by thinking you can move to Austria.

• You can’t claim benefits here and move
• You aren’t entitled to benefits in Austria
• You actually won’t even be able to stay in Austria beyond 90 days unless you can prove you can support yourself and your child without support

You haven’t thought this through OP

With all due respect @Enimhaol is this really a good time/situation to have a baby? You have other options

If you read my post you would see why, I don’t want to explain my private family matters to a stranger, but it’s not possible for me to stay there.

I would suggest either you move to Hungary or move to Ireland. He could possibly transfer his course to our university in either country.

You haven't really thought all this through have you? How were you planning on supporting a child when you got pregnant?

I will work once the baby is old enough to be put into childcare, but I won’t be able to for the first few months of course.

You have to prove you can support yourself and your child to be allowed to stay there beyond 90 days.

No one in this country will know about the Austrian benefits system. Remember your right to free movement in Europe is primarily as a worker. Prior to brexit there were a lot of changes to the benefit rules in this country primarily to legally prevent benefits being paid to European citizens without a job. Also if you are currently in the Uk the access to benefits in this country would be because there is a common travel area between Uk and Ireland so citizens of both countries can move freely and claim benefits in either country. Ie nothing to do with the EU. As far as I know there is no common benefits system across Europe, each country has their own rules. Hope this helps.

Wherever you are in June and July is going to be where you stay until at least the end of October - you can't move countries with a newborn baby.

Have you ever had a job, even a part time job while a student? You may qualify for Maternity Allowance if you have made National Insurance contributions in the 15 months ish up to your due date.

If you don't qualify for any benefits then between the end of the last day of term and when you give birth then you can be on Job Seeker's allowance - you will have to show that you are spending 30 hours a week looking for work. You may be able to find work that can be done remotely with you working from your parents home.

If your parents really won't let you live with them after the baby is born then ask them to put that formally in writing and make sure that letter is in your hospital bag. When you go into hospital to give birth ask to speak to the duty social worker, show them the letter and explain that you are now homeless as you can't return to your parents house with a baby. Ask them for help and refuse to be discharged from hospital until you and your baby have somewhere safe to go. You will probably be put into emergency B&B accommodation and you will be entitled to claim Universal Credit.

It will be grim but travelling to a foreign country and trying to survive there would be worse I think.

Is this comment really necessary? Unless you have access to a Time Machine or want to wipe my memory clean so I don’t feel regret for having an abortion for the rest of my life then pls don’t give an opinion like this.

EU governments are not allowed to discriminate against non national existing residents when it comes to benefits. So a Hungarian would be treated exactly the same as an Austrian. If they are married he may be able to claim for dependents.

Does this apply as an eu citizen? I’m very lost with all of the information and very confused about what to do, thanks for your help!

Yes it does.

As an EU citizen you can go for 3 months, to stay after that you have to show you can support yourself and your child without any support. Otherwise, you have to leave.

I don’t think suggesting a very young woman gets married because of an accidental pregnancy to a man she’s in a long distance relationship with (and who seems to be more interested in his studies than providing as a good father) so she becomes eligible for Austrian benefits is a particularly good shout, tbh.

OP, an appointment with Citizens Information to find out properly about your housing and welfare options as a lone parent in Ireland would be the best thing for you to do. Moving to a country where you don’t speak the language, won’t be able to work when your baby is old enough, have no support network, and no idea how to navigate systems like healthcare and welfare is a terrible idea when you’re going to be vulnerable.

Why aren't you asking g your boyfriend to check? He lives in Austria and presumably speaks the language.

You're being daft though to think you can move country with a newborn and have a government look after you all via benefits.

I Wasn’t trying to be insensitive, sorry, I just didn’t know whether you had thought of all options.

Regardless of benefits, if you are hoping to find work in Austria, it would be enormously helpful to start learning German now.

I think you would be better off to return to Ireland.
You will get single parent benefits there and you could be put on a housing list and in the meantime you will get HAP allowance if your private renting
Could your boyfriend transfer his course to a university in Ireland so that he could be in Ireland with you?

I was not suggesting they marry.

Are you living in Ireland or the UK now OP?
You said you’re an Irish citizen, but it’s not clear if you live there or if you have citizenship through parents or grandparents. Are you a British citizen too?