Single parent: update on financial assistance

Concrete help

In addition to the aid granted to families – and among them the Childcare Benefit (Paje), up to 3 years old – specific allowances are dedicated to people who find themselves alone with a child. If he does not receive financial assistance from his ex-spouse, the single parent can apply to the CAF for a Family support allowance (ASF), more commonly known as single parent assistance. This allowance (104 €) is obtained without conditions of resources, from the first month of the separation of the parents. But it is no longer paid from the day the family court judge fixes alimony, if it exceeds € 104 per child. There is also theChildcare assistance for single parents (Agepi), an allowance created so that childcare is not an obstacle to returning to work or entering training. Paid by Pôle emploi under certain conditions, the amount varies from 170 to 400 € for a child, depending on the length of work or training. It is paid only once in 12 months.

Break loneliness

So much for financial aid, but what about the rest? The single parent is isolated for two reasons, already because he manages the daily life of the child alone and because it can undergo different forms of discrimination : “It can be scary to see a single mother. They live alone, raise their children alone and deal with childcare issues alone. From where a feeling of being sometimes a little overwhelmed …

In addition to isolation and financial insecurity, they are confronted with the rather harsh view of society: “You just have to work”, “Ask the father to take care of it”… But people absolutely do not understand that it is not that simple. Everything becomes more complicated, the slightest change must be validated by a family affairs judge, it’s exhausting, ”explains Solen Degabriel, lawyer at the Ile-et-Villaine Women’s Information Center, in charge of parenting issues. .

Parent cafes, to breathe

Parent cafes, green houses, solo clubs … initiatives put in place by parents themselves to support each other are numerous. Examples to imitate? In Rennes, at the Solo Parents Club created by CIDFF in 2012, nearly ten of them (with three dads) meet regularly for a coffee or an outing, and above all to talk and support each other. TO Paris, places like Cafézoide allow parents to come, with or without children, to talk about education and parenting. TO Lille, the Café des Potes en Ciel also provides support and listening. In the context of conflictual relations with the other parent, one can find listening, family mediation sessions and free legal advice from the structures of the UNAF (National Union of Family Associations). Finally, and this is undoubtedly the most difficult, the single parent must relearn, thanks to all these relays, to trust each other again.