Ukraine starts paying out 5,000 UAH to first-graders
Ukrainian families have started receiving the first payments under the state program called "Schoolchild's Bundle". In the initial phase, the Ministry of Social Policy allocated more than 308.4 million UAH to almost 61,000 families who submitted applications in the first days of the program.
The one-time benefit is 5,000 UAH per child enrolled in the first grade in the new school year. Since the start of application processing, parents of first-graders have already submitted over 99,000 applications through the Pension Fund of Ukraine and the Diia app.
The Ministry of Social Policy emphasized that the transfer of funds is carried out in stages. Therefore, families that have already completed the application but have not yet received the money do not need to reapply for the benefit—applications continue being processed.
The right to the "Schoolchild's Bundle" is granted to one of the parents or other legal representative of the first-grader. If two or more children in a family start first grade at the same time, the benefit is awarded separately for each of them. In 2026, applications can be submitted until November 1 through the Diia app or a Pension Fund service center.
The payment is provided in non-cash form to a special bank account. The 5,000 UAH can be spent on necessary school supplies, books, children's clothing, and footwear. The received amount is not taken into account when calculating total family income for the purpose of other types of social assistance.
The benefit is not provided for a child who has moved abroad for permanent residence or is in temporarily occupied territory. For the payment to be granted, information about the child's enrollment in the first grade must be present in the relevant state information systems.
Thus, in the first stage about 61,000 families out of over 99,000 that have already submitted applications received the funds. The Ministry of Social Policy assured that processing of the remaining applications is ongoing and once reviewed, those families will also receive the program’s designated 5,000 UAH.
