Alocații familiale: primele 10 informații oarecum neobișnuite de știut

They are sometimes taken for granted in France, unfortunately they have not always existed and will perhaps not always exist for everyone. Family allowances are assistance paid to people with dependent children, the amounts and conditions of which vary from country to country. Here is a brief overview of the history of family allowances in France, the major measures that have taken place since their creation, their financing or their cost. Enough to find out more about these aids that we receive each month, and why not, shine with your knowledge at the next dinner aperitif with parents!

The ancestor of family allowances was born around 1916

In France in 1916, an engineer named Emile Romanet, who was also a fervent Catholic, carried out an investigation among the workers at his factory in Grenoble. He notices that the bigger the families, the more difficult they have to make ends meet, to make it financially. Convinced of the interest for employers to provide assistance to their employees, he convinced his boss, Joanny Joya, to introduce a “bonus for family responsibilities”, calculated according to the number of children per household. The ancestor of family allowances was born. Anticipating the demands of workers in neighboring factories, Emile Romanet will convince the bosses of local businesses to organize themselves to avoid strikes. Five industrialists created on April 29, 1918 a Compensation Fund, the second fund of this type recognized in France, the first being founded the same year in Lorient, Brittany.

A first law passed in 1932

In 1928 and 1930 the law on social insurance covering sickness, old age and invalidity was passed. Then, in 1932, the Landry law generalizes family allowances for all employees in industry and commerce, by making it compulsory for employers to join a compensation fund. But state intervention is still limited, and the amount of allowances varies from one department to another. The State did not take up family allowances until 1945, with the creation of Social Security.

A measure linked in part to the decrease in the birth rate

Partly set up on the initiative of Catholics, more precisely by a Christian-social movement, family allowances appeared especially in the 1930s as a way to compensate for the drop in birth rates observed in France after the Great War. France then experienced a high death rate, as well as a low birth rate, which placed it in the tail of Europe in terms of population growth. Encourage the French to have children is therefore crucial to reverse this worrying trend, which notably involves a favorable family policy.

The income conditions for allowances only date from 2015

Until 2015, the amount of family allowances received by parents was not set according to household resources. Clearly, a family of executives or a couple of workers each with two children received the same amounts even though they did not have the same salaries at all.

In 1996, Alain Juppé, then Prime Minister under the presidency of Jacques Chirac, launched a paving stone in the pond by announcing a reflection on means-tested family allowances, without success. The idea of ​​such a measure resurfaced in 1997 with Lionel Jospin, but again, this measure will not be applied, in favor of a lowering of the family quotient.

It was not until 2014, under François Hollande, that the means-tested family allowances will be put back on the table, to be definitively adopted on July 15, 2015. As of this date, family allowances will be halved for parents of two children earning more than 6 euros per month (64 euros instead of 129), and by four for those earning more than 8 euros per month (32 euros instead of 129), the income ceiling being raised by 500 euros per additional child.

The family branch of the Social Security: at least 500 million euros in deficit

This is not a scoop: the Social Security deficit in France is skyrocketing, although every successive government for decades has been trying to reduce it. According to data from the Social Security Accounts Commission, the latter’s deficit was around 4,4 billion euros in 2017. But lhe family branch of Social Security, which includes family allowances, is not the one with the largest surplus.

According to daily information Le Monde, the family branch would go “in the green” for the first time since 2007, to 500 million euros in 2017 against a deficit of one billion euros in 2016. The family branch of Social Security is certainly still in deficit, but less than other branches such as accidents at work (800 million euros), and old age (1,5 billion euros).

France well off compared to some European neighbors

Whether we are in favor of an increase in family allowances or, on the contrary, we wish to see them reduced, we cannot in any case deny that France is rather well off in terms of family policy. While the amounts are generally higher in Germany as well as in certain Scandinavian countries, other countries such as Italy, Spain or the United Kingdom have implemented severe income restrictions. And among some European neighbors, the increase in the amount according to the number of children is less than in France, even if with us the first child does not give the right to any allowance. If we group together all the family help available in France (parental leave, family allowances, maternity leave, etc.), the family policy is particularly advantageous. France also displays one of the highest female employment rates in Europe, and a higher birth rate than most of its neighbors, in part at least because of the aid granted to families.

The family supplement, a helping hand for the 3rd child

In mainland France, the family supplement (CF) is intended for families with at least three dependent children all aged at least 3 and under 21. Created in January 1978, the family supplement marks the priority given to the third child. The family supplement replaces the single salary allowance, the stay-at-home mother’s allowance and the childcare allowance.

In December 2016, it was paid to 826 households, a quarter of which is a single-parent family. The basic amount is € 600, which can be increased to € 170,71 for families whose income does not exceed a certain ceiling.

2014: a measure on parental leave to promote gender equality

As part of a bill on gender equality led by Ms. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, then Minister of Women’s Rights under the presidency of François Hollande, a major reform of parental leave has taken place, and has entered into in force in July 2014. As of this date, parents of only one child, who until then were only entitled to 6 months of leave, can take six more months provided that the other parent takes the leave. Clearly, the leave is extended to 12 months provided that this period is shared equally between the two parents. From the second child, parental leave always lasts for a maximum of three years, but CAF aid will only be paid until the child is 3 years old if it is shared between the two parents: 24 months maximum for one parent and 12 months for the other parent, as part of the Shared Child Education Benefit (PreParE). The goal: to encourage dads to take parental leave to take care of their newborn baby.

Towards the end of the universality of family allowances?

This is a question that comes up regularly on the table, whatever the political orientation of the various governments. Until now, if the family allowances have an amount which depends on the level of income of the families, they remain universal: all French parents, whoever they are, receive family allowances, even if the amount differs according to their level of income.

At a time when it is necessary to find means of reducing the Social Security deficit, the universality of family allowances raises questions. Does a family with a monthly income of over 10 euros really need a helping hand of just a few dozen euros to raise their children?

In March 2018, Guillaume Chiche, LREM deputy for Deux-Sèvres, in collaboration with LR deputy for Ille-et-Vilaine Gilles Lurton, were to submit a report consisting of recommendations concerning French family policy. But if however they were made (the deputies would have had a hard time finding common ground), their conclusions have not made much noise for the moment and have not yet given rise to a bill.

Who finances family allowances?

In 2016, 84,3 billion euros were paid by the Family Allowance Funds (Caf) and the Central Agricultural Social Mutual Funds (Ccmsa) in the form of legal benefits. This financial mass includes three categories: benefits conditional on the presence of a child, housing benefits, benefits relating to solidarity and support for activity. Regarding family allowances, these are mostly financed by social contributions paid by employers, up to 5,25% or 3,45% depending on the profession. The rest comes from the CSG (generalized social contribution, also levied on payslips) and taxes. Clearly, each active Frenchman finances family allowances a little.

Surse:

• https://www.caf.fr/sites/default/files/cnaf/Documents/Dser/essentiel/Essentiel_depensesPresta_ESSENTIEL.pdf
• https://www.urssaf.fr/portail/home/employeur/calculer-les-cotisations/les-taux-de-cotisations/la-cotisation-dallocations-famil.html
• http://www.vie-publique.fr/decouverte-institutions/protection-sociale/politique-familiale/comment-branche-famille-securite-sociale-est-elle-financee.html
• http://www.vie-publique.fr/politiques-publiques/famille/chronologie/
• http://www.slate.fr/story/137699/emile-romanet-inventa-allocations-familiales