Student jobs and health insurance in Belgium 2026: when must you register yourself?
In short
If you are under 25 and registered with your health insurance fund (mutualité, ziekenfonds) as a parent’s dependent child, your student job changes nothing: the NIHDI (INAMI, RIZIV) sets no income limit for dependent children. The limit applies to other dependants, for example if you are your spouse’s or partner’s dependant: €3,193.10 gross per quarter, the latest amount published (second quarter of 2026). At 25 you are no longer a dependent child and usually register in your own name as a titulaire (students: €78.93 contribution per quarter in 2026); earlier if your job gives you rights in your own name.
Under 25 and a parent’s dependant: your job does not count
A child under 25 can be registered with a health insurance fund as the dependant of a parent, the parent’s spouse, a grandparent or the adult who lives with the child and provides for them. The child is then covered without paying any contribution. For this category, the NIHDI sets no income condition at all, and you do not even need to live with your parent: your hours and pay from student work are not capped.
The exception: a job that gives you rights in your own name
One condition applies to children too: not having a “free entitlement” in your own name. An employee has one when their income reaches a minimum amount. When you start a job, your fund learns about it through your employer’s Dimona declaration and invites you to register as an insured worker in your own name (a “titulaire”); if you do not reply, you are registered automatically. It is not a loss: you stay covered, in your own name, with no extra personal contribution. On a regular employment contract, or working beyond your student hours? Ask your fund whether this applies to you.
A spouse’s or partner’s dependant: €3,193.10 gross per quarter
If you are registered as the dependant of your spouse or of the person you live with (legal cohabitation or not), your earned and replacement income may not exceed a ceiling per calendar quarter, calculated on the gross amount: €3,193.10 for the second quarter of 2026, the latest amount published by the NIHDI as of 28 September 2026. The ceiling follows the pivot index; the one for the third quarter of 2026 was not yet online. Above it, you lose your dependant status and must register in your own name. Working little and staying under the ceiling? You can remain a dependant by filling in a sworn statement on your income.
At 25: registering in your own name
From 25, you are no longer a “dependent child”. Sometimes you can stay registered with a parent as a cohabiting dependant: you must live with them, they can have only one cohabiting dependant, and none if they are married; your gross income is then capped at €3,193.10 per quarter. Otherwise, you register as a titulaire with the health insurance fund of your choice or with the CAAMI (HZIV), the public fund. Students in higher education: your institution gives you a certificate and your contribution is €78.93 per quarter in 2026.
| Your situation | Income condition | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Under 25, a parent’s dependent child | None | Nothing: your student job changes nothing. |
| A job that gives you an entitlement in your own name | Your income reaches the required minimum amount | You become an insured worker (titulaire), with no extra contribution. |
| A spouse’s or partner’s dependant | €3,193.10 gross per quarter at most (second quarter of 2026) | Above it, you register in your own name. |
| 25 or over | Cohabiting dependant of a parent: €3,193.10 gross per quarter at most | Otherwise, titulaire; students: €78.93 per quarter in 2026. |
Three examples
- Sarah, 21, registered as her mother’s dependant, works 600 hours as a student in 2026: no ceiling, nothing to do.
- Yanis, 23, registered as his partner’s dependant, earns €3,500 gross between July and September 2026: that is well above the quarterly ceiling, which was €3,193.10 in the second quarter of 2026; he must register in his own name.
- Léa turns 25 in March 2026, during her master’s: she is no longer a dependent child. She registers as a student titulaire, for €78.93 per quarter, unless she can remain a parent’s cohabiting dependant.
In every case, your health insurance fund registers you and decides: tell it when you turn 25, when you start a job or when you move in with a partner. Your student job income does count, under other rules, for your parents’ tax and child benefit.
Related questions
Student job: is health insurance compulsory?
Health insurance is compulsory: you are registered either as a titulaire or as the dependant of a titulaire. A student job does not force you to register yourself as long as you are a parent’s dependent child and under 25.
Until what age am I my parents’ dependant for health insurance?
As long as you are under 25, whatever you earn. After that, you register as a titulaire, or you can sometimes stay a parent’s cohabiting dependant, with a ceiling of €3,193.10 gross per quarter (second quarter of 2026).
How much does registering as a student titulaire cost?
€78.93 per quarter since 1 January 2026, the amount published by the NIHDI and paid to your health insurance fund. Your higher education institution gives you the certificate that allows this registration.
Can my student job make me lose my cover?
No. At worst, a job that gives you rights in your own name gets you registered as an insured worker (titulaire): you stay covered, with no extra personal contribution.
Is the €3,193.10 ceiling gross or net?
Gross: the NIHDI takes the total gross amount of your income for the calendar quarter (pay, benefits, allowances). €3,193.10 is the amount for the second quarter of 2026; it is revised when the pivot index is exceeded.
Official sources
- NIHDI (INAMI): your right to reimbursed care as a dependant (in French)
- NIHDI (INAMI): dependants, allowed income per quarter (in French)
- NIHDI (INAMI): dependants, quarterly ceiling on the total gross amount (PDF, in French)
- NIHDI (INAMI): personal contribution, students €78.93 per quarter in 2026 (in French)
- NIHDI (INAMI): certificate to register with a health insurance fund as a student (in French)
- NIHDI (INAMI): joining a health insurance fund (in French)
Trakko is not an official source: this guide sums up the rules as published by the authorities on the date shown. For an answer you can rely on, check Student@work, mycareer.be or the body quoted.