Edenred Creche: How does it work and who is eligible?
17 de June, 2025
Edenred Creche is a social benefit to support children, often referred to as a childcare voucher. This benefit can be granted by companies to their employees in order to support them in their childhood and education expenses.
As it is a benefit, it has a different legal and fiscal framework to the monthly salary. For this reason, there may be some doubts about how it works.
Discover with us how Edenred Creche works, who can receive it and under what circumstances.
What is Edenred Creche?
The Edenred Creche is a social benefit, complementary to salary, that companies can grant to employees to help them cover childcare costs for children or dependents under the age of 7.
This benefit can be used to pay for crèches, nurseries, kindergartens and other similar establishments. In this way, employers are able to maximize their employees’ purchasing power on expenses that tend to represent a large slice of their family budget.
How does Edenred Creche work?
Edenred Creche is 100% digital and can be used via the education wallet in the MyEdenred App. The allocation and use of this benefit works as follows:
- The employer assigns the benefit to the employee in the Client Portal;
- The employee receives an email informing them that they have received their benefit and adds it to their wallet in the MyEdenred App;
- Once the company has loaded the benefit, the employee can use it and make payments directly on the MyEdenred App;
- The payment is automatically validated.
Who can receive Edenred Creche?
Childcare vouchers have been regulated by Portuguese law since 1999. Decree-Law no. 26/99, of January 28 (amended by Law no. 82-E/2014, of December 31st), establishes the conditions for issuing and allocating childcare vouchers.
One of the aspects enshrined in the legislation is the principle of universality, i.e. childcare benefits must be granted to all eligible employees: employees with children or dependents under the age of 7.
If the company does not comply with this principle – if it decides to give it to some eligible employees and not to others – this benefit will be considered supplementary pay and the corresponding deductions will apply.
In addition, the amount granted must be the same for all eligible workers.
If the company guarantees this universal and non-discriminatory nature, childcare vouchers such as the Edenred Creche have the following associated tax benefits:
- Company: total exemption from TSU and 40% increase in IRC;
- Employee: total exemption from TSU and IRS.
These tax advantages apply to any amount granted, as there is no legal limit to the amount given by the company to employees.
Where can Edenred Creche be used?
Edenred Creche can be used in a network of more than 3,200 public and private establishments in Portugal. These establishments include crèches, nurseries, kindergartens and the like.
Because it is a social benefit and not a means of payment, it can only be used in a network of participating establishments. This is because only an accredited network, whose establishments have an agreement with the entity that issues the social vouchers – in this case, Edenred – ensures that the benefit can be used for its intended purpose.