From May 15, parents receiving state support no longer need to track separate accounts for each program. The Cabinet of Ministers unified all accruals into a single special account Diya.Card — and it's important to understand what exactly has changed and what remains unchanged.
What goes into the unified account
Four programs are now credited together:
- Compensation for "Baby Package" — goods for a newborn or cash equivalent;
- Childcare assistance for children up to one year — monthly payment;
- "eKindergarten" — compensation for private daycare fees;
- "School Package" — one-time assistance for first-graders.
The special account can be opened before submitting an application for assistance — in the app of the chosen partner bank. This means that technical preparation no longer delays payments.
The main change that doesn't make headlines
Before the reform, funds under certain programs had usage deadlines — unused balances expired. Now, as Prime Minister Yulia Svyridenko announced, the deadline has been canceled: money remains in the account until the family uses it.
At the same time, categories of permitted expenses have been expanded. Funds from the special account can be supplemented with personal funds — if a purchase costs more than what's in the target balance, the system automatically deducts the difference from the card's personal account.
"We're simplifying the mechanism for families with children and future parents to receive state support"
— Yulia Svyridenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine, Telegram, May 15
Where restrictions apply
The money remains targeted: it can only be spent in categories defined for each program — children's goods, childcare services, school supplies. Transferring to another account or withdrawing cash is not possible. Consolidation of accounts is a matter of management convenience, not an expansion of usage freedom.
Context matters: the reform continues a broader update launched by Law No. 4681 from November 2025, which increased payment amounts and introduced prenatal support for uninsured women. The May 15 decree is a technical but practically significant step in that same direction.
You can verify that funds are calculated correctly and which categories are activated for a specific account through the Diya app or partner bank — the government has not created a separate monitoring tool for recipients.
If the state truly canceled the usage deadline without hidden conditions — this is a rare example of social policy where the change benefits the recipient without additional requirements. The question is whether this principle will be preserved when budget pressure increases: deadlines for targeted payments have been reinstated before — quietly, through updates to bylaws.
