As soon as your child turns 16, major financial assistance from CAF is no longer paid automatically. To avoid an unpleasant surprise on your budget at the end of the summer, you will have to take steps to continue to receive it.
During adolescence, many things change for both children and their parents. And this is also the case for certain family allowances. If the CAF (or the MSA for agricultural scheme beneficiaries) pays a lot of aid automatically during childhood, the 16th Birthday often marks a turning point. From this pivotal age, the French state considers that education is no longer compulsory, which suspends certain financial support. To avoid an unpleasant surprise on their bank account at the end of the summer, parents of teenagers must remember to take the necessary steps.
Some are still in high school and preparing for the baccalaureate, others become apprentices or choose to interrupt their studies to enter working life directly… Between 16 and 18 years old, adolescents can change their status and therefore see their rights to social benefits modified. Without action from the parents, the paying agencies consider by default that the child is no longer in school, and stop payments while awaiting proof to the contrary. It is this mechanism which conditions aid which is nevertheless crucial for the budget of families: the back-to-school allowance (ARS).
Indeed, between the ages of 6 and 15 of their child, benefit parents receive ARS at the end of August without any action to be taken. Payment is automatic, and it’s one less thing to think about during the stressful back-to-school period! But some people may not be aware of this: if assistance is indeed granted until the child turns 18, it is no longer systematic from the age of 16. It is the parents who must request it themselves.from mid-July”via their personal space on the CAF website. Fortunately, the procedure has been simplified so as not to burden parents’ daily lives.
It is no longer necessary to wait for the official school certificate issued by the high school at the start of the school year; a simple sworn statement online is enough to resolve the situation. It is therefore necessary to certify that the adolescent will still be in school, or in apprenticeship (in which case he or she must not earn a salary greater than 1,144.21 euros per month) during the 2026-2027 school year. The CAF will ask you in particular for the contact details of the establishment in which your child is studying.
If you forget to take the step, you will therefore miss out on 466 euros per child, a significant sum when you know what school supplies, textbooks or equipment specific to certain sectors cost. At least, it cannot be paid to you before the start of the school year, which would therefore require you to advance the costs. Generally, CAF contacts families by email or post during the month of July to invite them to make the request. But we are never safe from a setback: an oversight by the administration, an email lost in the inbox or a letter received while on vacation, and the reminder can easily be overlooked.
