Vienna: A Social Paradise for Refugees?

Vienna: A Social Paradise for Refugees?

A Syrian refugee couple with eleven children living in Vienna receives €6,000 a month in social benefits, including housing assistance. On top of that, they collect over €2,000 in child allowances and receive tax relief, meaning they effectively receive a further €3,000 per month in addition to their welfare payments.

POLITIKA English 2025. MÁJUS 25. 12:24

In total, the family’s monthly income amounts to €9,000, provided by the city of Vienna — according to Krone.at, which cited internal sources and also reported that, beyond the above amount, the family receives additional ad hoc benefits, including support for the start of the school year.

The newspaper noted that even dual-income families cannot attain such a net income. The article adds that the same family would actually receive even more child-related benefits if they lived in the province of Vorarlberg.

For the 2024 fiscal year, Vienna allocated €1,094,533,344 — that is, over one billion euros — to social spending. According to the city government, the family is entitled to receive welfare benefits despite the father being employed. City Hall also confirmed that several large families with refugee status live in the Austrian capital.

“The vast majority of families receiving social assistance have one or two children, making up 58.1 per cent of all families receiving such support,”

– stated a press release from the office of Peter Hacker (SPÖ), the city councillor responsible for the sector, which also revealed that four families in Vienna have eleven children each, and six families have ten children.

Austrians are Outraged and Many Believe Vienna’s Social Welfare System Needs Reform

Mr. Dominik Nepp, a politician from the FPO, issued sharp criticism of the Viennese city administration in an interview with the Austrian Exxpress newspaper.

“This €9,000 in welfare for a large Syrian family is outrageous,”

– said Mr. Nepp, who accused Mayor Michael Ludwig of turning Vienna into a “social paradise” for refugees.

Mr. Maximilian Krauss, FPO’s city councillor in Vienna, called the situation a “social policy madness.” Since April 2025, politicians from the ÖVP and FPÖ have been demanding a cap on social benefits, but so far without success.

For many Austrians, this case is a clear exemple that Vienna’s welfare system is in need of urgent reform,

– Exxpress writes, adding that many are also raising the question of how long Austria can — or should — continue to fund this. While some believe the assistance is urgently needed, others consider the sums involved to be provocative. Particular concern has been voiced over the strain on the education system and the large number of children of asylum seekers, as reflected in the latest refuge statistics.

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