CAF stands for 'Caisse des Allocations Familiales' and it’s a system that provides financial support in France to aid lots of different types of individuals and families with their social challenges.
In this article, we want to give you a concise and informative overview of the different types of financial support offered by CAF. Let’s start with one of the most detailed - child support.
For Children Born Or Adopted - Petite Enfance
With a child on the way, it’s natural to worry about everything and anything. But one thing that no expecting parent should have to worry about is the cost of actually having the baby! CAF has kindly thought about that and offers prime à la naissance - a support allowance to cover the expenses related to the arrival of the baby. Whilst this is income-dependent, a one-off payment of 965€ will be paid at the end of pregnancy - one less stress!
As time goes on the cost of living - especially with kids - skyrockets and once again CAF are here to help. The allocation de base CAF support is there to help you meet the cost of supporting and educating your children. Depending on the household or single parent income, the payment is between 175€ or 87€ a month starting from when the baby is 2 months old until it turns 3!
What About If Your Full-Time Job Has Become Raising Your Child?
CAF provides PrePare support. This ranges from 405,97€ per month for full-time workers or 262,45€ for part-time workers from the end of maternity leave, until the parent either returns to work full time or until the youngest child turns three.
Let’s Not Forget About The Working Parents Amongst Us
Another support option is le complément de libre choix du mode de garde. This financial aid assists children under the age of 6 whose parents work full time and who are looked after by an “assistante maternelle”. The payments here vary depending on the household income, the number of children in the household and the age of each child.
As a ballpark figure, the monthly payments will vary between 181€ and 479€ (if the child is under the age of three) and between 90€ and 240€ (if the child is between 3 and 6 years old).
Family Allowances - Enfance Et Jeunesse
What about if support is needed in more than one of those child support areas? Well, CAF offers a combined financial aid called enfance et jeunesse that helps with child payments, covering the cost of schooling and child support if you have multiple little sprogs running around!
From the arrival of a second child, allocation familiales CAF support provides additional monthly payments. The amount varies based on the number of children, their age and the family income. You can find out more about the exact financial allocations here.
For older children aged 6 to 18, l’allocation de rentrée scolaire CAF aid helps cover the cost of paying for child schooling with a yearly payment of approximately 400€.
Lastly, for those with at least three children over the age of three, complément familiale CAF finances provides monthly support payments available of between 175,01€ and 262,53€ depending on the situation.
CAF Isn’t Just For Families…. It Helps With Accomodation Too!
For those living in France paying rent, repaying a loan from a different residence, for families relocating and for those who own properties, CAF has a few options that may be helpful!
Les aides personnelles au logement - this support is there for those with modest resources who are paying rent or repaying a loan for their main residence.
La prime déménagement - this support provides relocation grants for large families who require a change in accomodation for additional space to accommodate the arrival of the third (or more) child. As a ballpark figure the sum for three children is a one off payment of up to 1013,47€.
Le prêt à l’amélioration de l’habitat - otherwise known as PAH! This CAF support is relevant for those who are tenants or owners of a main residence wishing to undertake repair, improvement, sanitation or thermal insulation work, excluding maintenance work like painting etc. For this type of work, a one off payment up to 1067,14€ is available.
Single Person Assistance…
To all those people living alone in France and reading this article, CAF hasn’t forgotten about you! There are a number of support options available for self-employed individuals and those living alone.
For those employed, self-employed or receiving unemployment allowance from Pole Emploi with low income then la prime d’activité allowance could be relevant. The exact amount depends on the individual's professional revenue. You can learn more about this here.
For those impoverished or with low resources, the RSA CAF support will supplement these resources to guarantee at least a minimum monthly income. As an example, for a single person without any other source of income the monthly payments come to 575,52€.
Is that it?
Nope! There are many more CAF support options available that we haven’t listed for families dealing with child sickness, loss, disability, age and for impoverished families. We don’t have time to cover those topics today, but you can find more information on these topics here.
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