The guide to financial assistance for child care : CMG, tax credit and Pajemploi

In short: Financial support for childcare is changing in 2025–2026. The CMG (Complément de libre choix du mode de garde) is evolving with a fairer calculation, adapted to actual incomes and the needs of each family. Single-parent families now benefit from coverage up to age 12, while parents in shared custody can both claim the aid. The 50% tax credit remains cumulative with the CMG. Pajemploi simplifies monthly declarations. These measures aim to lighten the financial burden of childcare, particularly for the tightest budgets.

The CMG: a financial aid that finally adapts to the reality of families

For a long time, financial support for childcare operated according to fixed grids, without really taking into account parents' individual situations. Since September 2025, that has changed. The CMG, this financial aid intended for families directly employing a childminder or a home-based caregiver, is now based on a more nuanced, more humane calculation.

Imagine the grain of an old bookbinding leather: each family has its own texture, its own creases. The new system finally recognizes this diversity. The CMG amount takes into account the number of children, household income and, above all, the actual number of care hours. A modest family needing 40 hours per week is no longer penalized in the same way as before.

What is liberating is the lack of paperwork: the system works automatically via Pajemploi, without parents having to fill out additional forms. For those already receiving reduced aid because of the reform, a transitional supplement may be paid, ensuring that no family is left in difficulty.

How the CMG calculation adapts to your situation

Previously, the distinction between children aged 0–3 and 3–6 created distortions. Today, age no longer changes the outcome: what matters is household composition and income. A family with three children will receive more generous aid than a family with a single child, with equivalent income.

Each hour of care now represents the same cost for the CMG, regardless of the total number of hours. Whether you need 15 hours per week or 50 hours, the hourly rate remains fair. The CAF covers the social contributions in full for an approved childminder, and at 50% for home childcare, within the set limits.

For parents with modest incomes and significant needs, this reform often means welcome financial breathing room: the out-of-pocket cost decreases, while the stability of the monthly payment creates some budgetary predictability.

Single-parent families and shared custody: finally equal rights

Before 2025, single parents saw their aid stop at the child's sixth birthday. It was an abrupt cliff, a budgetary fall. Now, single-parent families can benefit from the CMG up to the child's 12th birthday, under the same conditions as younger children.

This extension recognizes a reality: childcare costs do not disappear at six. After-school care, supervised activities, childminders for school-age children remain costly. For a mother or father alone, this continuity of aid changes the economic trajectory.

At the same time, parents in equitable shared custody can now both apply for the CMG, from December 2025. No more where only one parent could benefit: if each directly employs the person caring for the child and meets the conditions, both are entitled to the aid. It is an implicit recognition that shared parenting deserves balanced financial protection.

Conditions to meet to access the expanded CMG

Access to the CMG remains subject to eligibility conditions: having children under 6 years old (or up to 12 years for single-parent families), directly employing a childminder or a person for home childcare, and working or following training.

For children in shared custody, the sharing must be equitable. Both parents must meet the criteria individually and, where applicable, have set up the sharing of family allowances in advance. This system, although precise, favors transparency and fairness.

Pajemploi, the online service designed to simplify monthly declarations, manages these conditions without added formalities: everything works on the basis of your regular declarations. If your situation changes, the system adapts automatically to the next declaration.

The 50% tax credit: an additional layer of funding

While the CMG reduces your monthly childcare bill, the tax credit takes effect at the time of the tax return. Contrary to what some think, these two schemes do not oppose each other: they are cumulative, like two hands joining.

The mechanism is simple: you pay a certain amount to your childminder or home caregiver, the CMG reimburses part of it to you monthly, then when you file your taxes you benefit from a 50% tax deduction on the remaining out-of-pocket cost. It is a cascade of reliefs which, combined, can make care much more accessible.

For a family paying €500 per month for childcare, the CMG can cover €350, leaving €150 to pay. On that €150 monthly (€1,800 annually), the tax credit reimburses €900. The overall effect is a significant reduction in the real cost.

Understanding the tax credit mechanism in practice

The tax credit works straightforwardly: you declare the childcare expenses on your income tax return, the tax authority calculates 50% of the sum and reimburses you directly. There is no need to justify again; the CMG received remains distinct and parallel to this tax deduction.

Note however: the tax credit applies to the net cost of care, after social contributions have been deducted. For home childcare, for example, employer social contributions reduce the taxable base, which increases the benefit of the tax credit.

A reassuring detail: if you have no income tax to pay, the tax credit is paid in full as a refundable credit. No family loses this advantage for lack of taxable income.

Pajemploi: simplifying parents employers' administrative daily life

Employing a person for childcare creates administrative obligations: declaring contributions, managing contracts, tracking expenses. Pajemploi was created to turn this burden into something manageable, even for those less comfortable with formalities.

This CAF service centralizes the monthly declaration: you enter the hours worked and the salary paid, the system automatically calculates contributions, manages administrative documents and facilitates tracking for your accountant or your tax return.

Since the 2025 reform, Pajemploi applies the new CMG calculation directly without you needing to do anything. The aid adapted to your situation is paid immediately, with no prior application or complex retroactive adjustment. It is an invisible but tangible easing of administrative work.

How to declare and track your aids with Pajemploi

The procedure is streamlined: you create an account on the Pajemploi portal, describe your care (type, hours, salary), and make a monthly declaration in a few clicks. Pajemploi automatically generates payslips, social statements and the documents needed for taxes.

The CMG is added directly to your file: no need to request it separately from the CAF once your file is set up. All communication between the personal services organization and the CAF happens in the background, without your intervention.

To control your out-of-pocket cost, you can use the CAF simulator or that of URSSAF, which shows you precisely the expected CMG amount according to your profile. It's a welcome transparency before hiring someone or adjusting your care duration.

CMG rate limits: what you need to know

The reform also introduces hourly caps. If your childminder charges a rate above the set thresholds, the difference remains your responsibility. This mechanism protects the system's fairness: it prevents CMG aid from indirectly benefiting those who pay generously, to the detriment of those with constrained budgets.

These caps apply both to the portion of the CMG covering the net cost of care and to the portion covering the social contributions. It is a coherent logic, even if it requires negotiating your caregiver's rate well from the start.

Fortunately, this rate cap is rarely blocking: most practical rates comply with the caps. Nevertheless, it is better to check before concluding an agreement with your childminder, to avoid budgetary surprises.

Collective structures: different rules

Parents using a micro-crèche, an associative crèche or a home-care company are not affected by this CMG calculation reform. These structures benefit from other aid mechanisms, more stable but also less personalized than direct employment.

If you combine direct employment and use of a structure, only the direct employment portion sees its calculation evolve under the new rules. The rest of your aid follows the old modalities, which slightly complicates your situation but never makes it worse.

This distinction between direct employment and structures reflects a reality: care by a trusted person at home or with an approved childminder creates a unique bond that crèches, excellent as they are, cannot reproduce. Public policy recognizes this diversity of needs and adapts supports accordingly.

Concrete scenarios: how these aids transform budgets

Take Sandrine, a single mother with two children aged 3 and 5, earning €1,800 net per month. She employs an approved childminder for 40 hours per week, at a rate of €3.50 per hour.

Before the reform, her CMG was calculated globally without really taking into account her modest income. Today, the new personalized calculation takes into account that she alone raises two children with limited income. The CMG paid increases, and the extension up to age 12 guarantees that when her children reach school age, she will still receive this support. Her out-of-pocket cost is reduced monthly.

Another case: Julien and Marie, in shared custody with their son, both work and each employ a home caregiver. Before December 2025, only one of the two could claim the CMG. Now, each applies independently, doubling the overall support. It is a recognition of their status as active co-parents in the child's life.

The impact of the tax credit on the out-of-pocket cost

Back to Sandrine. After the monthly CMG, her out-of-pocket cost is €200 per month, or €2,400 per year. When filing her tax return, she declares this sum: the tax authority reimburses 50%, i.e. €1,200. Her real annual cost falls to €1,200 for two children in full-time care. It's heavy, but not insurmountable.

For Marie and Julien, with higher incomes, the CMG is less generous, but the tax credit partly compensates. Their out-of-pocket cost, before the tax credit, is higher in absolute terms, but the overall relief rate comes closer. It is the logic of a personal services system designed for progressive equity.

These examples show how these two tools—CMG and the tax credit—work in tandem to make possible what would otherwise remain an inaccessible luxury for many families.