the Minister of the Economy considers it “fairly reasonable” to reserve the Christmas bonus for families with children

The finance bill plans to only reserve the Christmas bonus for recipients who have children.

The Minister of the Economy Roland Lescure judged on Wednesday November 5 “fairly reasonable” and not “shocking” to reserve the Christmas bonus for minimum social welfare recipients who have children, as provided for in the 2026 finance bill. “Among the people who receive the Christmas bonus today, there are people who do not have children. We are proposing to refocus the system on those who still believe in Santa Claus, that seems quite reasonable”declared the minister on LCI. According to him, this adjustment should make it possible to save “a few million euros”.

“If Parliament wants to reconsider this measure, it will have to find other solutions because what is clear is that the real world exists. The dream world does not exist, Santa Claus or not”he added. The Christmas bonus is neither “generosity” In “a luxury”said CFDT general secretary Marylise Léon on Wednesday morning, after Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou described her as part of a “maximum generosity policy”.

Created in 1998 and continued since then, the Christmas bonus has so far been awarded to more than 2.2 million households. Its amount was progressive depending on the composition of the family, for example a couple with two children received around 320 euros last year and a single person with three children 335 euros.