Ponesi fanau: o tali i au fesili

Birth bonus: assistance paid by CAF

The birth premium, or birth premium, is financial assistance for the birth of a child and the purchases involved in the arrival of a baby.

Clothing, food, diapers, stroller, car seat, bed and other childcare equipment… The list is often long, especially for a first child. Sometimes you even have to change your home or car to make room for this newcomer.

Aware of the importance of the expenses generated by the birth of a baby, the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales and the Mutualité sociale agricole (MSA) thus provide aid, subject to means-tested, to help future parents financially.

Note that this aid is part of the Young child care benefit, or Paje, which also includes the basic allowance, the adoption premium, the shared child education benefit (PreParE) and the free choice of childcare system (Cmg).

The birth premium is intended for anyone who is expecting a child and who resides in France, regardless of their nationality. In fact, you simply have to meet the general conditions to benefit from family benefits, which are detailed on the CAF website.

Ceilings and conditions of attribution: who is entitled to the birth bonus?

In addition to fulfilling the general conditions for benefiting from family benefits (in particular residing in France) and having declared your pregnancy to CAF and to the Health Insurance within the time limits set, you must also have resources for 2019 not exceeding the ceilings set by CAF.

Note that the resources ceiling is higher if you live alone, or if you live as a couple and each spouse had professional income of at least € 5 in 511.

For a first unborn child

If you only have one child at home, including the unborn child, the 2019 resource ceilings are as follows:

• 32 euros for a couple with a single income from activity;
• 42 euros for a single parent or for a couple with two earned income.

We can therefore claim the birth bonus if our reference tax income for 2019 is below these ceilings.

For a second child

If you have one child and are expecting a second, which means two children in the home, the ceilings are:

• 38 euros for a couple with a single income from activity;
• 49 euros for a single parent or for a couple with two earned income.

For a third child

If you already have two children and are expecting a third, which therefore makes three children taken into account in the household, the ceilings are:

• 46 euros for a couple with a single income from activity;
• 57 euros for a single parent or for a couple with two earned income.

For a fourth, fifth child … or more

Finally, if the household includes four children in all, it is necessary to add 7 euros to the above ceilings, whatever the parental situation. This sum to be added to the income ceilings is valid for each additional child. Which therefore gives, for five children at home (789 plus one unborn):

• 62 euros for a couple with a single income from activity;
• 72 euros for a single parent or a couple with two earned income.

Birth bonus: How long for the year 2021?

If we are eligible for the birth bonus, that is to say if our income does not exceed the ceilings indicated, we receive the sum of 948,27 euros. The sum is the same regardless of our income.

This amount is doubled in the event of a twin pregnancy, so we receive 1 euros if we are expecting twins. And 896,54 euros for the birth of triplets.

Simulation and request to be done online on caf.fr

Note that it is possible, if you are not sure whether you are entitled to the birth bonus, to do a simulation on caf.fr, indicating his income and family situation. The family situation taken into account in the allocation of this assistance is that of the 6th month of pregnancy, and the unborn child counts as a dependent child.

Payment of the birth bonus: when do you receive it?

If it was previously paid before the end of the child’s second month, the birth bonus is now paid from the seventh month of pregnancy, since April 1, 2021. More specifically, the birth premium is paid before the last day of the calendar month (unlike a period of one month from date to date) following the 6th month of pregnancy.

Hence the importance of having declared your pregnancy to the CAF, before the end of the 14th week of pregnancy – 16th week of amenorrhea (SA), in other words before the end of the first trimester.

Mutuals, works councils: other possible aid

If it turns out that you are not entitled to the birth bonus, do not despair. Many mutuals are also planning a financial boost when a baby arrives at the home. Aid which is sometimes substantial, with several hundred euros at stake, without conditions of resources. A small bonus that it can be interesting to take into account when choosing your complementary health!

Be careful, however: unlike the birth bonus, mutual aid is only paid after childbirth. To benefit from it, it is generally sufficient to send a copy of the baby’s birth certificate, and / or the family record book to the relevant page, to your mutual insurance company.

Do not forget, moreover, to register your newborn as a beneficiary.

Employees benefiting from a Works Council can also get information from it, because some works councils provide for arrangements to help with the arrival of a child.

Parents of a “stillborn” or lifeless child during an abortion

The parents (or paranges) can receive the premium at the birth in the event of the death of the unborn baby, in one of the following situations:

• if the birth (or the termination of pregnancy) occurs on a date after or equal to the 1st day of the calendar month following the 5th month of pregnancy (i.e. from the 6thmasina o le maitaga), and whether the child is born lifeless (stillborn) or alive and viable.
• if childbirth (or termination of pregnancy) occurs before this date for a child born alive and viable (with a birth certificate and a death certificate).