CHRISTMAS BONUS 2024. This year, the Christmas bonus could arrive earlier than usual.
The premium of Christmas is exceptional financial assistance granted each year in France to certain people with modest incomes to help them meet end-of-year holiday expenses. Established in 1998, it is paid by the Caisse d’Family Allowances (CAF), the Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA) or Pôle emploi, depending on the situation of the beneficiary.
This bonus is intended mainly for beneficiaries of certain social assistance, such as the Active Solidarity Income (RSA), theSpecific Solidarity Allowance (ASS), or the Equivalent Retirement Allowance (AER). The amounts vary depending on the composition of the household: for a single person, it is €152.45, and it increases depending on the number of dependents.
Payment of the Christmas bonus is generally made in mid-December, without any special action on the part of the beneficiaries. This initiative aims to provide one-off support for low-income households, allowing them to cover expenses related to gifts or festive meals. Each year, millions of households benefit from it, highlighting the importance of this assistance in a context where social inequalities remain marked.
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 resource ceiling strictly speaking for receiving the Christmas bonus. Here are the social benefits you must receive to benefit from them:
- RSA: 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 beneficiary does not receivehousing allowances APL type.
- ASS: the specific solidarity allowance concerns unemployed people at the end of their rights whose resources do not exceed a ceiling. You must also have carried out professional activity for five years during the 10 years preceding the end of the last employment contract.
- Flat-rate bonus for resumption of activity
- AER: this social benefit is no longer granted, since January 1, 2011! The retirement equivalent allowance was aimed at job seekers who have not yet reached legal retirement age, but who have acquired enough quarters for a full retirement.
Usually, the Christmas bonus is paid on December 15. However, in 2024, this day falls on a Sunday. Rather than paying it later, organizations should anticipate and pay it earlier. The last similar case occurred in 2019. Thus, France Travail (formerly Pôle Emploi) and the CAF should make the transfers on Friday December 13, 2024. Please note, however, that there may be a delay of three to five days, from one banking establishment to another.
SIf payment is made a few days before the holidays, it sometimes happens that the payment is not made until January, therefore, in 2025. This concerns new beneficiaries, registered between the 1st and the 31st. December 2024. The transfer is automatic.
Since 2009, the amounts of the Christmas bonus have been unchanged. They depend on your social situation and, possibly, your family situation. Clearly, the amount of the Christmas bonus does not depend on your income. Are you benefiting from the Christmas bonus from Pôle emploi, being unemployed at the end of your rights? In this case, Pôle emploi pays a fixed amount, whatever the family situation. It amounts to 152.45 euros.
If you benefit from the CAF Christmas bonus (because you are on 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 depending on 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 : couple with 2 children
- 335.39 euros : single person with 3 children
- 381.12 euros : couple with 3 children
- 396.37 euros : single person with 4 children
- 442.10 euros : couple with 4 children
Would you like to know or check the amount that should be allocated to you next December? 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.
The Family Allowance Fund pays the Christmas bonus to RSA (active solidarity income) recipients. Unlike traditional social benefits such as activity bonusthe 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 payment of the bonus.
Are you currently unemployed? Pôle emploi is responsible for paying the Christmas bonus to certain unemployed people. The latter must have exhausted their rights to unemployment 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.
You are at RSA ? In this case, you are one of the households affected by the CAF Christmas bonus. The amount of the CAF Christmas bonus depends on the composition of the household. Here are the amounts that were applied during the last payment:
- Single person: €152.45
- 2 people (isolated with 1 child or couple without children): €228.67
- 3 people (isolated with 2 children or couple with 1 child): €274.41
- A single person with 3 children: €335.39
- Couple with 2 children: €320.14
- A single person with 4 children: €396.37
- Couple with 3 children: €381.12
- A single person with 5 children: €457.35
- Couple with 4 children: €442.10
- Per additional person: €60.98
The accumulation of the Christmas bonus with the activity bonus is possible, under certain conditions. If you receive the activity bonus in November or December 2024, the sum of your base RSA and your activity bonus must be less than or equal to the amount of the base RSA corresponding to the composition of the family. If you find yourself in any other situation, it will be impossible for you to combine the Christmas bonus with the activity bonus.
The Christmas bonus and the AAH cannot be combined. The disabled adult allowance is not part of the aid eligible for the Christmas bonus. The regular revaluation of the AAH is the main reason why the two aids cannot be combined. The latter has been revalued by 25% in ten years.