FINANCE: The allocation rentree scolaire, paid to approximately to three million families, makes it possible to finance the purchase of school supplies
Paid to parents with modest incomes and intended to help them pay for their children’s school supplies, the allocation rentree scolaire (ARS) will be paid this Tuesday.
Amount, conditions of resources, procedures … We take stock of this aid, paid to 3 million families.
Who can benefit ?
Aimed at low-income parents, the ARS will be given to 3 million families whose children, aged 6 to 18, are enrolled in public or private schools. “The back-to-school allowance provides support to these families when they have to face a peak spending at the start of the school year,” explained the Ministry of Health in a statement in late July.
The ARS is subject to a ceiling of resources, at 24,697 euros for families with a dependent child, 30,396 euros for families with two children and 36,095 euros for families with three children. The ceiling then increases by 5,699 euros for each additional dependent child. A specific resource ceiling is applied. “When the resources of the family slightly exceed the ceiling, it then benefits from a back-to-school allowance at a reduced rate, decreasing according to its income,” according to the Ministry of Health.
How much is the ARS?
For the autumn of 2019, this allowance will amount to 368.84 euros for a child aged 6 to 10 years, 389.19 euros for a child from 11 to 14 years and 402.67 euros for a child from 15 to 18 years old. These amounts are increased by approximately 2 euros. The amount has been revalued by approximately 0.3% compared to 2018.
At the national level, the overall envelope devoted to the ARS reached 2.031 billion euros in 2018, or 0.9% more than in 2017. In Reunion, where the new school year took place on Friday, and Mayotte, where it takes place on Wednesday, is earlier than in mainland France and other overseas departments, the allowance was paid from August 1.
How to benefit?
For pupils under 16 years of age, parents have no way of doing things, as the Caisse d’Allocations familiales (CAF) automatically pay the ARS to eligible families who already meet the conditions. For children entering CP this year but who will be 6 years old in 2020, the family must collect a school certificate from the school and send it to CAF.
As for parents of adolescents aged 16 to 18, they are not obliged to provide proof of schooling: “A simple declaration on honour” is sufficient, according to the ministry. The cost of returning to school is stagnating this year, according to a survey by the Confederation of Family Trade Unions (CSF) , which estimates that CP and high school are cheaper but college more expensive than in 2018.
