The young child care benefit (Paje) is a financial aid scheme from CAF intended for young parents. It includes the birth or adoption premium, the basic allowance, the PreParE and the Cmg. These social benefits are intended to compensate for expenses or loss of income related to the birth or arrival of a child at home.

When a child is born – or when it arrives at home through adoption – parents have to face additional expenses. When a parent ceases his activity in order to take care of the young child, they also bear the reduction of the family’s income. Under certain conditions, CAF pays young parents financial aid.

The PAJE system includes the following financial aids:

• The birth premium or the adoption premium: it helps relieve the financial burden of young parents in the context of their childcare equipment expenses resulting from the arrival of a child at home. The bonus is means-tested and paid only once. Its amount is € 923,08 per child born.
• The shared child education benefit (PreParE) – free choice of activity supplement (Clca) for a birth before January 1, 2015: it compensates for the reduction in household resources when the parents or one of the two chooses to interrupt or reduce his professional activity to take care of the young child. Its monthly amount is between 2 and 146,21 € (increased PreParE), its payment can be made until the youngest child is 640,90 years old in a family of 3 children or more.
• The free choice of child care supplement (Cmg): this monthly allowance is intended for parents who employ an approved childminder or a home nanny. To reduce the monthly cost of childcare, CAF covers part of the remuneration granted by parents, subject to means-tested conditions.
• The basic allowance of Paje (Ab).

The Ab is a monthly aid paid by CAF to the parents of a dependent child under the age of 3.

Who is entitled to the basic allowance?

To benefit from it, the household’s resources must not exceed the following ceilings:

To verify that the parents meet the conditions for the allocation of the basic PAJE allowance, the CAF takes into account the income for year N – 2.

Good to know: when the couple’s second annual income is less than € 5, the couple is considered to have only one income.

How to apply for the basic allowance?

At the time of the child’s birth or arrival at home, the parents inform CAF by sending a copy of the family record book as well as a copy of the birth certificate. The organization studies the request and begins the payments, if necessary.

Amount and duration

The basic allowance is paid from the month following the birth or adoption. Parents benefit from it until the month preceding the 3 years of the youngest child.

Please note: the basic allowance is not paid per child but per family. Parents receive the same amount regardless of the number of dependent children under 3. As an exception, the CAF grants twice the amount of the Ab in the case of twins, 2 times in the case of triplets …

Parents benefit, depending on their level of resources, from the basic allowance at full rate or at reduced rate:

• Its monthly amount at full rate is € 184,62.
• Its reduced rate amount is € 92,31 per month.

To benefit from the basic allowance at the full rate, the parents’ resources must not exceed the following ceilings:

Parents whose resources exceed the above ceilings can claim the basic allowance at a reduced rate.

• The birth premium or the adoption premium can be combined with the basic allowance.
• The free choice of childcare supplement (Cmg) can be combined with the basic allowance.
• The shared child education benefit (PreParE) can be combined with the basic allowance.
• The basic allowance of the Paje can also be added to the aid paid within the framework of the daily parental presence allowance (Ajpp) or the family support allowance.

On the other hand, parents cannot combine the basic allowance with the family supplement. Likewise, parents of several children under the age of 3 cannot combine several basic allowances, except for multiple births.