It’s a new help for the many mothers (and some fathers) who take care of their children alone. Financial assistance for childcare, currently paid by the CAF until entry to CP, will be extended until entry to college for these single-parent families, the Minister of Solidarity announced on Tuesday. He specified that this measure would appear in the budget of the “Secu” presented next week.
The “free choice of childcare supplement” (CMG), allocated to families subject to means and currently limited to the child’s six-year-old, will be extended “to single-parent families for children aged 6 to 11”, said Jean-Christophe Combe during a meeting with the Association of Social Information Journalists (AJIS).
Revaluation of the minimum alimony
“It’s an extremely strong social measure,” he added, pointing out that “30% of single-parent families live in poverty.” This device had been announced by the President of the Republic during the campaign for his re-election. Two other measures in favor of families, and to be included in the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS), were announced at the beginning of September.
The first concerns the revaluation of 50% of the minimum alimony paid to single-parent families, which will increase from 123 to 185 euros per month. The second relates to the remaining charge for families who have their young child looked after. Currently, it is more expensive to use a childminder than a crèche, but the aid will be revised so that the remaining charge is the same, regardless of the mode of care, Christophe Combe said on Tuesday.
Implementation of the “instant tax credit”
“If these measures are confirmed, it is obviously good news”, reacted to Sandra Onyszko, director of UFNAFAAM, a federation of foster families and maternal assistants. The current differences in dependent care create “competition” between childcare methods to the detriment of childminders, who in some departments cannot find work and abandon the profession, said this official.
“But we ask to see how the CMG will evolve: will the overall envelope increase, or will there be a redistribution, which will make winners and losers? she asked. Another measure likely to help families financially also came into effect this week: parents who use home childcare for their child over the age of six (for example after school, or on Wednesdays ), can now benefit from the “instant tax credit”.
Fight against undeclared work
Concretely, families therefore only pay half of the real cost of the service, Urssaf paying the other half directly – whereas until now, they only recovered the tax credit a year later. This new facility is valid whether the home help is paid via a service provider or directly by the parents.
A “very good news”, likely to improve the fight against undeclared work, welcomed the Federation of services to individuals (FESP).