CAF (The Family Allowance Funds) presents in all the departments and pays the family benefits. They also pay housing benefits as well as part of the benefits intended to fight poverty.
They also provides financial help for students to pay the rent.
The CAF stands for ‘Caisse des Allocations Familiales’ and it is the government body that helps families by offering different services and benefits going from early childhood, crèche, education, holidays, family allowances, pregnancy benefits & housing benefits. Many of these benefits are revenue tested, some are not.
The best way to get general information is via their main website www.caf.fr which gives lots of really good detailed facts.
You can also simulate your situation before you start a process to see if you would have access to the benefit and download all the application forms. Unfortunately, although the information is great, it’s all in French so make sure you have your google translate page open or ask for help! You can also find the application forms. The CAF can be found in most towns and they have smaller opening times for villages.
- For creating an account you may follow this link: http://franceetcroissant.com/caf/
- After creating an account and uploading your documents, you should be patient, due to the large number of files to be processed, processing times are likely to be longer.