Social security coverage

A loved one needs care and you are therefore no longer able to carry out your work. The Unemployment Insurance Act states: If you are caring for someone, the qualifying period for unemployment insurance is extended.

According to the Unemployment Insurance Act, a so-called qualifying period of 2 years applies. During this qualifying period, you must have been employed for at least 52 weeks in order to receive unemployment insurance benefits – such as unemployment allowance –   for the first time. This does not include marginal employment. If you have provided care for someone, the period of care will be added to this qualifying period. This means that the timeframe in which the insurance periods must be completed is extended by the period of care. As a result, insurance periods before the start of caregiving that would otherwise fall outside the qualifying period can still be taken into account.  You may therefore be entitled to unemployment insurance benefits after your period of care, provided that the following prerequisites are met:

• You have maintained continued insurance as a beneficiary or self-insurance under the pension insurance scheme while caring for a close relative who is entitled to a care allowance of level 3 or higher, or
• You have maintained free self-insurance under the pension insurance scheme while caring for a child with a disability.

You do not have to submit an application to qualify.

Additional information

There is a maximum extension period under this framework: you can claim unemployment insurance benefits for up to 5 additional years. The prerequisites for this are that you are unemployed and during this time:

• are on family hospice leave or
• are on care leave and
• receive care leave benefits.

For more information on unemployment insurance, click here:

Self-insurance

If you do not have your own health insurance and are not co-insured with anyone, you can take out voluntary insurance with the Österreichische Gesundheitskasse (ÖGK).

In 2025, you will pay a maximum of 526.79 Euros per month for health insurance, entitling you to the following benefits:

• doctor's visits
• hospital stays
• medication
• aids
• medical aids

If you were not previously covered by health insurance, your entitlement to these benefits begins six months after submitting your application. However, you will be required to pay health insurance contributions from the start.

If you are facing financial hardship, your health insurance contributions will be lower. Providing information about your financial situation may lower the costs payable by you. You will need the following forms of proof:

• payslip
• tax assessment notice
• savings books or savings accounts
• maintenance payments

The prerequisites for reducing the contribution for health insurance are that you

• are not currently covered by health insurance and
• have your main place of residence in Austria.

How do I submit an application?

Submit your application to the regional office in your federal province. To do this, visit the general website of the Österreichische Gesundheitskasse (ÖGK): 

To the application

If you are facing financial hardship and meet certain criteria, you may be entitled to a lower contribution rate. To claim this reduced rate, complete the application for self-insurance and the application for a reduction in the contribution base. You can find both applications under the following link:

If you are in need of social protection and want to apply for non-contributory self-insurance, click on the link below:

If you are caring for a disabled child, the contribution for self-insurance is waived. This is also the case if you are in need of social protection.

If you are looking after a relative in need of care at home, you can be co-insured free of charge with the care allowance recipient.

The following link provides information about the requirements for non-contributory co-insurance under the SVS health insurance scheme:
 

Additional information:

To access information in your federal province, click on the following link:

Free co-insurance

Caregiving relatives can be co-insured with the person they care for. The prerequisites for co-insurance are that the person in need of care must have their own health insurance, receive a care allowance at level 3 or higher, be cared for at home in Austria, and that the caregiver’s working capacity is predominantly devoted to providing this care.

To the application

You can find the application to review your eligibility as a relative and further information via the following link. You can submit the application online via ID Austria or print it out and send it to the regional office in your federal province by post:

If you take on the task of caring for a close relative, you may no longer be able to work. This means that you no longer have compulsory insurance cover. However, you are entitled to free pension insurance.

In this case, you can apply for continued pension insurance.
The prerequisites for this are that the person in need of care

• receives care allowance level 3 or above,
• is cared for at home and requires you to dedicate your full working capacity to their care.

If you continue to work while caring for a close relative and therefore already have compulsory insurance coverage, you can also take out additional self-insurance. Self-insurance while caring for a close relative is also possible if you have never been insured under any form of pension insurance scheme. This means that you have never had compulsory insurance or been self-insured or received continued insurance as a beneficiary.

In these cases, you apply for self-insurance in pension insurance scheme. The prerequisites for this are that the person in need of care

• receives care allowance level 3 or above,
• is cared for at home, and that your working capacity is required to a significant extent for the care. This means that not all, but a considerable part of your working hours are devoted to caregiving.

To the application

For continued insurance or self-insurance, select the correct form and submit the application to the pension insurance provider by post or e-mail:

For more information on submitting the application, click on the following link:

If you want to submit the application for self-insurance online, you will need ID Austria. You can submit an online application here:

Additional information

Only one carer can be self-insured per person in need of care. As a carer, you must be a resident in Austria.

The date of self-insurance can be freely chosen.

Registration is 

• possible at the earliest when the person in need of care is entitled to care allowance level 3 or
• at the start of care and
• retroactively for a maximum of 1 year

For continued insurance, please note that the need for care must have arisen while you were still in employment. This means it must be clear that you left your job in order to care for a relative.

In both continued insurance and self-insurance, you do not have to pay the contributions yourself – the costs are covered by the federal government.

You can find more information on the following website:

If you would like to contact the Pensionsversicherungsanstalt (PVA), call 05 03 03 during the following times:

Monday to Thursday from 7 a.m. to 3.30 p.m.
Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To access the relevant telephone number and direct information for your federal province, click here: