NISS and social security in Portugal – parental leave, abono de família, pensions and free crèches

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sources Sources & methodology →

Your NISS is the key to everything Portugal's social security pays: 120 or 150 days of parental leave, monthly child benefit, unemployment benefit, a pension and a free crèche place. Since August 2025 you can get the number entirely online. Here are the 2026 amounts, the deadlines and how to claim.

Mother and daughter face to face on a Lisbon street with a tram behind — Photo: JoseManuel/Adobe Stock

Segurança Social (Social Security), run nationally by the Instituto da Segurança Social (ISS), pays parental leave, child benefit, unemployment benefit and pensions, all on one number: the NISS (número de identificação da segurança social – social security number). Two things are new: since August 2025 foreigners get the NISS entirely online with a biometric check, and the 2026 benefits follow an IAS (indexante dos apoios sociais – social support index) of €537.13 and a minimum wage of €920.

How do you get a NISS in Portugal?

You need a NISS to work, and it is assigned only when there is a link to Social Security: an employment contract, self-employment or a benefit claim. Foreigners apply online only, through the form on the Social Security portal (menu Ajuda > NISS > Atribuição), uploading ID and proof of the reason – the contract, the start of activity or, for digital nomads, the remote-work contract with a foreign employer – plus, for non-EU nationals, a residence permit, a visa or the receipt of a pending application at AIMA (Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo – the immigration agency). It is free, with no legal deadline.

Your employer can request it for you after reporting the job in Segurança Social Direta, the online service. The ISS verifies your identity by facial recognition or fingerprint and you download the proof from the portal. Residency-visa holders already get provisional NIF (número de identificação fiscal – tax number), NISS and SNS numbers with the visa, and the 12 Espaços Cidadão in part 3 issue all three at once.

Contribution (national rule)	Rate	Paid
Employee	11 per cent of gross pay, withheld by the employer	10th to 25th of the following month
Employer	23.75 per cent (22.3 per cent for non-profit entities)	With the employee share
Self-employed	Your own contributions	10th to 20th of the following month

Source: the Social Security Institute (ISS), read 24 September 2026.

Check your record in Segurança Social Direta under Trabalho > Carreira contributiva.

The subsídio parental inicial (initial parental allowance) needs six calendar months of registered earnings, consecutive or not, in Portugal or another social security system – months worked in another EU country count.

The parents choose 120 or 150 consecutive days. The mother must take 42 days after the birth and may take up to 30 before; the father must take 28 days within the first 42, at least seven immediately after the birth, in blocks of at least seven, plus seven optional days while the mother is on leave. Twins add 30 days per extra child. If each parent takes 30 consecutive days, or two blocks of 15, after the mother's 42 days, the period grows by 30 days: 120 becomes 150 and 150 becomes 180.

Option	Rate of reference pay
120 days	100 per cent
150 days, not shared	80 per cent
150 days, shared	100 per cent
180 days, with the 30-day share	83 per cent
180 days, with a 60-day share	90 per cent
The father's exclusive days	Always 100 per cent

Source: the Social Security Institute (ISS), Guia Prático Subsídio Parental Inicial (May 2026), read 24 September 2026.

Reference pay is the six oldest of the last eight months' salaries before the leave, excluding holiday and Christmas pay, divided by 180; the daily minimum in 2026 is €14.32. Claim in Segurança Social Direta (Família > Parentalidade) or with form RP 5049-DGSS within six months of your first day off work, and tell your employer the periods within seven days of the birth. Anna Andersson, our illustrative newcomer, worked in France first; those contributions complete her six months.

Abono de família: child benefit in 2026

Abono de família para crianças e jovens is means-tested, paid monthly, and updated for 2026 by Portaria 60/2026/1. Your bracket is the household's annual income divided by the number of eligible children plus one; claims in 2026 use 2025 income: 1st bracket up to €3,657.50, 2nd to €7,315.00, 3rd to €12,435.50, 4th to €18,287.50, nothing above. Households with liquid assets above €128,911.20 are excluded.

Child's age	1st bracket	2nd	3rd	4th
Up to 36 months	€190.98	€161.65	€132.07	€88.43
3 to 6 years	€75.13	€75.13	€59.33	€44.77
Over 6	€75.13	€75.13	€54.35	–

Source: the Social Security Institute (ISS), Guia Prático Abono de Família (July 2026), and Portaria 60/2026/1, read 24 September 2026.

Single parents get 50 per cent more, and first-bracket children aged 6 to 16 in school get a double payment in September. Claim within six months of the month after the birth or arrival, or payment starts only the month after your claim. EU and Swiss nationals need only an ID document; other foreign children must show legal residence – a residence permit, visa or refugee title – and a child arriving later takes the parents' status once you show you applied to AIMA more than 30 days earlier.

Unemployment benefit: subsídio de desemprego

You qualify if you live in Portugal, lost your job involuntarily, can work, are registered at the job centre of the IEFP (Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional – the public employment service), had an employment contract, hold a residence permit allowing one, and have 360 days of registered earnings in the last 24 months; days worked in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland count with portable document U1. Claim within 90 consecutive days: register at the job centre, then apply in person there with declaration RP5044 from your employer.

The benefit is 65 per cent of reference pay (the 12 oldest of the last 14 months, divided by 360): at least €537.13 – €617.70 if your base pay was at least the minimum wage – and at most €1,342.83, never above 75 per cent of net reference pay. Duration depends on age and record: under 30, 150 to 330 days; 30 to 39, 180 to 420; 40 to 49, 210 to 540; 50 and over, 270 to 540. With document U2 you can take it to another EU country for three months.

Pensions and free crèches

The normal retirement age is 66 years and 9 months in 2026 and 66 years and 11 months in 2027. You need 15 calendar years of contributions to the Portuguese or another system, with at least one year in the Portuguese general scheme when foreign periods are added; 40 years allow earlier retirement without penalty. Periods under EU regulations and bilateral conventions count (forms RP 5071 and RP 5081). The 2026 minimum pension runs from €341.08 with under 15 years to €493.52 with 31 or more.

Crèche for the under-threes is a Social Security matter, and the Creche Feliz scheme makes it free for every child born on or after 1 September 2021 in a solidarity-network crèche with a cooperation agreement; children born earlier qualify only in the 1st or 2nd co-payment bracket. Since 1 January 2023 the free place extends to private crèches in the scheme, and since 1 January 2024 to municipal, public-university and public-institute crèches, whenever the solidarity network has no place in your municipality of residence or work – the câmara municipal (town hall) decides places in its own crèches. The Creche Feliz app lists free places and takes the exemption request. These conditions come from official announcements of 2023 and 2024, so confirm them with the ISS. Pre-school at three is not yet guaranteed – part 10 explains.

What to do now

Step	What	When
1	Apply for the NISS online, or let your employer do it	Before your first payday
2	Check your contribution record in Segurança Social Direta	After your first month
3	Expecting a child? Inform your employer and claim the allowance	Within 7 days of the birth; claim within 6 months
4	Claim abono de família	Within 6 months of the birth or arrival
5	Lost your job? Register at the IEFP job centre, then claim	Within 90 days
6	Search the Creche Feliz app for a free place	As soon as you have an address
7	Questions: Linha Segurança Social 210 545 400 or 300 502 502	Weekdays 9h–18h

Source: the Social Security Institute (ISS) and IEFP, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.