CHRISTMAS BONUS. Usually paid on December 15, the Christmas bonus could be released in January 2023 for certain beneficiaries.
[Mis à jour le 9 décembre 2022 à 10h26] Paid since 1998 to the most modest households, the inflation bonus is back on the front of the stage at the start of the year. And despite inflation, its amount will not be revalued, as the government made official this week. The latter refers to the “many instruments already in place against inflation” such as the fuel discount, the energy tariff shield or the exceptional energy cheque. De facto, the amount of the Christmas bonus has remained the same since 2009: 152,45 euros for a single person.
To hope to receive this Christmas bonus, you must be one of the recipients of the RSA, the ASS or the AER in November or December 2022. The payment will begin on December 15, 2022. Note that if you are one of the new beneficiaries social minima concerned, in December 2022, the payment of the Christmas bonus will take a little longer. In fact, you will receive your premium from the month of January 2023 specifies the CAF on its official website. To avoid any delays or unpleasant surprises, we advise you to check the accuracy of your personal information such as your bank details, or your personal situation on your CAF, MSA, or Pôle Emploi personal space.
Who is entitled to the CAF Christmas bonus?
The Family Allowance Fund pays the Christmas bonus to RSA (Active Solidarity Income) recipients. Unlike traditional social benefits such as the activity bonus, the CAF does not carry out a study of the situation of your household (income, social benefits received, alimony, etc.). The granting of the Christmas bonus is automatic. There is therefore no point in contacting the Family Allowance Fund to hope for the payment of the premium.
Are you currently unemployed? Pôle emploi is responsible for paying the Christmas bonus to certain unemployed people. The latter must have exhausted their unemployment rights and receive the specific solidarity allowance (ASS). This therefore means that unemployed people receiving traditional unemployment benefits, also called return to work allowance (ARE), are not eligible. As a reminder, the specific solidarity allowance concerns unemployed people at the end of their rights whose resources do not exceed a ceiling.
The Christmas bonus concerns beneficiaries of certain social minima from the Family Allowance Fund and Pôle Emploi. These two organizations do not conduct an income test to determine if you are eligible. Consequently, there is no actual income ceiling for receiving the Christmas bonus. In total, 2.3 million households will pocket the Christmas bonus this winter. 2 million people in December 2022and the rest, corresponding to the new beneficiaries, in January 2023. Here are the social benefits you must receive to benefit from it:
- RSA : the active solidarity income is reserved for the most precarious people, aged over 25, who receive very few resources. Its fixed amount for a single person is 565 euros, if the recipient does not receive housing allowances of the APL type.
- ASS : the specific solidarity allowance concerns unemployed people at the end of their rights whose resources do not exceed a ceiling. It is also necessary to have exercised a professional activity for five years during the 10 years preceding the end of the last employment contract.
- Lump-sum bonus for resumption of activity
- AER : this social benefit has not been granted since 1 January 2011! The pension equivalent allowance was intended for job seekers who have not yet reached the legal retirement age, but who have acquired enough quarters for a full pension.
This year, the payment of the Christmas bonus will begin on Thursday, December 15.
There may be a delay of three to five days, from one bank to another: you are therefore likely to see the payment of the Christmas bonus on your account between December 18 and 20. SIf the payment is made a few days before the holidays, it sometimes happens that the payment is not made until the month of January 2023. This concerns new recipients, for the month of December. The transfer is automatique.Also, you are never safe from a delay on the part of your payment organization. But in reality, the few days of beat correspond to the processing time practiced by your bank. So, no worries if the transfer does not arrive immediately on your bank account
Be careful, the CAF specifies this year on its website that “if you have been the beneficiary of one of these aids (Rsa, Ass or Aer) since December 2022, the payment of the Christmas bonus will take place from January 2023)”. In other words, if you are one of the new beneficiaries, you will have to wait another month to receive the bonus.
Since 2009, the amounts of the Christmas bonus have remained unchanged. They depend on your social situation and, possibly, on your family situation. Clearly, the amount of the Christmas bonus does not depend on your income. Do you benefit from the Pôle emploi Christmas bonus, being unemployed at the end of your rights? In this case, Pôle emploi pays a fixed amount, regardless of the family situation. He wakes up at 152,45 euros. If you benefit from the CAF Christmas bonus (because you are on the RSA for example), in this case, the amount depends on your family situation. It is between 152,45 euros for a single person and 442,10 euros for a couple with four children (to which are added 60,98 euros per additional person). Here is the list of the amounts of the Christmas bonus according to your family situation:
- 152,45 euros : single person
- 228,67 euros : single person with 1 child or person in a couple without children
- 274,41 euros : single person with 2 children or person in a couple with 1 child
- 320,14 euros : person in couple with 2 children
- 335,39 euros : single person with 3 children
- 381,12 euros : person in couple with 3 children
- 396,37 euros : single person with 4 children
- 442,10 euros : person in couple with 4 children
Do you want to know or check the amount that should be allocated to you on December 15th? Nothing could be simpler, mes-aides.gouv.fr allows you to know your rights, and in particular to know if you are entitled to one of the aids giving right to the Christmas bonus such as the RSA.