The 2026 Christmas bonus will indeed be paid this year throughout France, including in Paris and the Île-de-France region. The payment is scheduled to be made from Tuesday, December 15, 2026 to around 2.3 million low-income households. The amounts remain the same as last year, starting at €152.45 for a single person.
Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou confirmed the date on Sunday, November 8, in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche. The state is allocating around 450 million euros to the measure. The decree officially setting the amounts and the date has not yet been published; it is issued each year a few days before the payments are made.
A much-anticipated event, as December means gifts, festive meals and a budget that runs out faster than Santa’s reindeer.
Payments begin on December 15, 2026, on the same date for CAF, MSA and France Travail. Depending on your bank, however, the money may take up to eight business days to show up in your account. So there’s no need to worry if nothing appears that day.
If you only become eligible for the RSA, ASS or AER in December, the bonus won’t arrive before Christmas: it will be paid in January 2027.
The amount depends on the benefit received. For recipients of the ASS, the AER or the flat-rate payment for returning to work, it is a flat rate of €152.45, regardless of family size.
For households receiving RSA, the payment increases with the number of people. Here is the scale renewed in mainland France and the overseas departments and regions, excluding Mayotte:
Beyond that, each additional child adds €60.98. In Mayotte, the amounts are roughly half as much. These amounts have not changed since the benefit was introduced in 1998, when it was set at 1,000 francs.
The bonus is reserved for households that are entitled to one of the following benefits in November or December 2026:
Beware of misconceptions: the activity bonus, the AAH or housing assistance do not, on their own, qualify you for the Christmas bonus. There is only one bonus per household, even if both members of a couple receive assistance.
This is the question that keeps coming up most often right now. The answer is no, in the vast majority of cases. Even a modest retirement pension does not entitle you to the Christmas bonus, and neither does the solidarity allowance for older people (ASPA).
The only exception is people who are still receiving AER or ASS while waiting to claim their pension. They receive the €152.45 flat-rate payment.
No, the bonus is paid automatically, with no application required. It is not taxable and does not need to be declared. The only thing to do is check that your bank details and family circumstances are up to date in your account with CAF, MSA or France Travail. CAF and MSA pay the bonus to RSA recipients, while France Travail pays it to recipients of ASS and AER. The full rules are set out on the Service-Public page on the Christmas bonus.
The benefit has had a close call. During discussions on the 2026 budget, the government considered limiting it to households with children, which would have deprived more than a million households of it. In the face of criticism, the idea was dropped in early 2026, and eligibility remains unchanged: single people and couples without children still receive it.
To make this extra money go further, celebrations in Paris don’t have to cost a fortune. We’ve put together a list of free Christmas 2026 outings in Paris and the Île-de-France region, along with our top spots for affordable gifts. For the rest of the holiday season, see our guide to Christmas 2026 in Paris. And for your wallet, the increase in the minimum wage on December 1, 2026 is another piece of good news at year’s end.
Dates and Opening Time
Starts December 15, 2026
Official website
www.service-public.fr
