The 3 Magic Cs of Luxembourg

Political preferences and debates aside, many European countries are known for their cushy social benefits.  Luxembourg, in particular, has distinguished itself as a family-friendly country. For starters, the income tax rate for married versus single folks is strikingly disparate. And if you've been reading here long, you know our adopted country takes great pride in its parks and playgrounds. Looking at maternity and paternity leave policies/durations as well as the direct pay-out you receive just for giving birth is enough to make any American expat couple seriously second guess their birth control plans.

There are three government systems in Luxembourg from which our family benefits on a daily basis that are sure to boggle the American mind. I like to call them "The 3 Magic Cs of Luxembourg." The first has nothing to do with families, but the other two are very specific to families with kids. And a disclaimer: I'm not an expert on these systems and don't pretend to understand how they work, so my explanations are most certainly lacking as a result. Perhaps someday I will more thoroughly understand. For now, the mind continues to boggle.

Cheque Repas
If your place of work does not have a cafeteria on site, you have the option of purchasing "cheque repas" (meal checks) from your employer. Cheque reaps is sort of a mash-up of Groupon and food stamps: prepaid coupons subsidized by the government. They are also called LunchPass, but despite this name, their use is not limited to buying the lunch you're supposedly missing out on at work.

our friend, the LunchPass

A LunchPass is a food voucher, currently worth 8.40€ a piece. (Yes, I finally looked up how to type the € symbol on my American keyboard. It only took me 8 months.) The employee contributes 2.80€ and the employer/government 5.60€ toward each pass. If you've signed up for the program, you receive a big stack of these 8.40€ LunchPasses totaling over 200€ at the beginning of each month, with your contribution already deducted from your paycheck. This is how it works for us, but I did look it up on the website, and this breakdown seems pretty standard from what I can tell.

You may then use the cheque repas just like cash to buy groceries or restaurant meals at virtually every establishment in the country. After 8 months living here, I still hold them out sheepishly to the cashier, fully expecting to be laughed at and denied. But to my continued astonishment, the things work! Buy 4€ of food with a LunchPass, and get 4.40€ back in regular ol' change!  Or pay for your whole grocery bill in cheque repas while simultaneously perfecting the art of mentally adding multiples of 8.40!

As I mentioned, the program is subsidized by the Luxembourg government--that's the food stamps part--except it doesn't matter how much money you make. Everyone's entitled to the same amount.

Luxembourg food stamps for all!

We were skeptical at first; coupons and Groupons and prepaid stuff are generally not our thing, plus we figured there must be a catch. But once we realized you really could use cheque repas like cash to buy any food anywhere, we decided to sign up. We then decided to treat our contribution functionally like a tax on our paycheck, so it doesn't factor into our monthly budget for food. It's now our extra food-fun money, and we almost always use them to eat out rather than buy groceries. We also like to stockpile them for when people come to visit so we can treat them to food during their stay. (So? When are you coming?!  We will wine and dine you in style!  We have food stamps, people!)

Child Allowance
This is money you receive from the government simply for having children in your household. Again, it's the same for everyone regardless of income.  The amounts are adjusted from time to time, but we currently receive a total of over 400€ every month because we have two kids under 18. They also kick you a couple extra hundred euros at the beginning of Fall to help with purchasing school supplies, clothes, etc.

I've heard that other European countries have a similar system, but that some are being phased out and that Luxembourg's allowance is particularly generous.

Cheque Service
This is the system that subsidizes childcare. With this program, everyone working in Luxembourg is entitled to at minimum 3 free hours of childcare per week. After that, the rate you pay is determined by your salary. We use this system to pay for lunchtime care at school for the kids. You'll see in the table below, for example, that everyone pays a maximum of 4€ per hour per child after the first free 3 hours, up to 24 hours a week.

So, what do you think, Americans? Do you have a hard time wrapping your minds around this stuff like we do? I suppose at least we don't take it for granted.