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 at the start of the school year.
The newspaper noted that even dual-income families cannot attain such levels of 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 over one billion euros (€1,094,533,344) — for social spending. According to the city government, the family is entitled to receive welfare benefits despite the father of the household 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 percent of all families receiving such support,
stated a press release from the office of Peter Hacker (SPO), the city councilor 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, Many Believe Vienna’s Social Welfare System Needs Reform
In an interview with the Austrian Exxpress newspaper, Mr. Dominik Nepp, a politician from FPO, issued sharp criticism of the Viennese city administration.
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 councilor in Vienna, called the situation a “social policy madness.” Since April 2025, politicians from the OVP and FPO 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 asylum seekers have, as reflected in the latest refuge statistics.
Cover photo: Illustration (APA-PictureDesk via AFP)
