The Christmas bonus will be increased by 35% for precarious single-parent families

2023-12-08 07:07:10

Published on Dec 8 2023 at 6:07

“It’s about giving an extra boost of soul, a little helping hand to all these families who are struggling and living in great difficulties,” MP Philippe Brun pleaded in the chamber at the beginning of November. The elected socialist defended an amendment aimed at granting a Christmas bonus “to all single-parent families benefiting from social minima”.

The measure was adopted by the government, without knowing the precise terms. They have just been clarified. The exceptional bonus will take the form of a 35% increase in the Christmas bonus, traditionally paid to certain beneficiaries of minimum social benefits. According to Bercy, 660,000 single-parent families are affected.

December 15

RSA beneficiaries who live alone with dependent children will receive this increased bonus automatically on December 15. A single person with a child will thus receive 308.72 euros, or 80 euros more than the initial premium. The increase reaches 96 euros for a single-parent family with two children (i.e. a bonus of 370.45 euros), 117 euros with 3 children, etc. These amounts are the same in mainland France and in the overseas departments. On the other hand, they are significantly lower in Mayotte.

The increase also concerns beneficiaries of ASS (specific solidarity allowance) and AER (retirement equivalent allowance) who live alone with one or more dependent children. The increased bonus will, however, not be paid to them automatically, because the composition of the household is not known to Pôle emploi, to whom it will be necessary to provide proof of the number of dependent children. To the initial premium of 152.45 euros will then be added 53 euros for one child, 80 euros for two children…

A cost of 70 million euros

This Christmas gift from the government and Parliament to precarious single-parent families has an estimated cost of 70 million euros. The sum is part of the numerous redeployments of credits that the executive has granted to the oppositions, as part of the examination of its end-of-management finance bill for 2023.

Thanks to these small gestures, negotiated at length by the Minister of Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, the government ensured that this budgetary text – certainly of less scope than the draft budget for 2024 – was voted on without recourse to 49.3. This constitutes a notable exception. A sort of Christmas present, too, for the government.