Our French retirement system values having children. If you are an employed parent, then your offspring entitles you to certain retirement benefits. These rights granted are subject to very specific conditionsand unfold from different ways According to the case. In order to better understand the calculation of retirement when you are a parent, we interviewed Philippe Bainville and Fanny Guillou-Marre, specialists for Retirement Insurance and Agirc-Arrco respectively. After talking to us about the career statement and the supplementary pension, the two specialists enlighten us on taking children into account in the pension.
Increases linked to children for the general Social Security system pension
Having one or more children entitles you to additional so-called free quarters. These additional quarters are called increases in insurance duration for children. Firstly, it is possible to obtain up to 8 additional terms per child, terms which come “compensate for“the impact of having children on professional life:
- 4 quarters are granted for maternity or the adoption of a minor child, this is what we call maternity increase or adoption increase ;
- 4 quarters are granted for the child’s education, this is what we call the education increase.
“Within the basic regime, in the private sector, we calculate his rights in quarters. Other plans speak in annuities“, explains Philippe Bainville for Retirement Insurance. “For example, you have your career, made up of activity, unemployment, disability, illness and also periods of maternity. Having children, under certain conditions, allows you to benefit from additional quarters, up to 8 quarters per child. Furthermore, these quarters can be combined. If we have two children, we get 16 quarters“, he adds. Please note, however, that these trimesters are distributed differently between the two parents, depending on whether the birth or adoption of the child occurred before or after 2010.
If you are a civil servant parent, the benefits available to you are different, as summarized on the site of the French administration.
Parental leave
Other events may entitle you to additional free quarters, including parental leave. If you have been on parental leave, you are then entitled to an increase equivalent to the full duration of your parental leave. On the other hand, for the same child, it is not possible to combine an increase for parental leave with the increases for the duration of maternity, adoption and education insurance, but it can replace it if more favorable.
Raising a child disabled
If you raise, or have raised, a disabled child under 20 years oldyou are entitled to one quarter of free additional retirement insurance per period of 30 months of education, within the limit of 8 quarters maximum. Unlike the parental leave mentioned above, this increase for disabled children can be combined with the maternity or adoption and education increases or the increase for parental leave. Important information, you do not have to be related to the child.
At the same time, declaring that you have a disabled child and thus benefiting from an additional quarter for a disabled child entitles you to a full pension at the age of 65, instead of 67 years. Another possibility is that you can also benefit from a full-rate pension from the age of 65 if you have provided effective assistance to your child who is a beneficiary of human aid from the disability compensation benefit (PCH) for a minimum of 30 consecutive months.
Raising 3 or more children
If you are raising, or have raised, at least 3 children, then the amount of your pension is automatically increased by 10%. “Along with the extra quarters you can get, having children also offers financial advantages. From three children, you benefit from a 10% increase in the amount of your pension“, explains Philippe Bainville. To benefit from this increase, you must have had or raised 3 or more children for at least 9 years, before their 16th birthday.
Being a stay-at-home parent
If you have stopped working to raise a child, then being a stay-at-home parent can allow you to benefit from contributions paid by the family allowance fund (Caf). Subject to certain conditions, these contributions make it possible to validate quarters and salaries, which you will find on your career statement. These rights are affiliated with old age insurance for stay-at-home parents (AVPF).
Increases linked to children for the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension pension
Secondly, having children can also bring advantages to your Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension. The pension plan for private sector employees has two types of increase. “Agirc-Arrco has an increase system for each dependent child. The plan provides a temporary increase of 5% of the total amount Agirc-Arrco points. Furthermore, there exists an increase for children born or raisedthe rate of which varies depending on the periods of acquisition of Agirc-Arrco points“, explains Fanny Guillou-Marre, for Agirc-Arrco. These two increases are not not cumulative. If you are entitled to both, only the most favorable will be paid.
On her way, the specialist enlightens us on the rate of this family increase: “previously, there was an increase which depended on the pension fund to which you contribute. In 1999, the introduction of the single Arrco regime changed things. Before its creation, each fund had its own regulations and granted or not increases. Today, we always apply the same increase of 5% for rights obtained between 1999 and 2011, and 10% for rights obtained after 2012. This is why it is difficult to give a single rate for surcharges“.
For Agirc, the increase for children born or raised amounts to 8% for 3 children, 12% for 4 children, 16% for 5 children, etc. for periods of activity before 2012. It goes to 10% from 2012 for 3 children and more. Finally, the increase for children born and raised is capped in its amount, up to 2,330.12 euros since November 1, 2023.
The increase for dependent children
For the increase for dependent children, the children must be minors or be both under 25 years old and students, apprentices or registered with France Travail and not compensated, or to a last extent, they must be, whatever either their age, disabled and with a recognized disability before the age of 21.
The increase for children born or raised
As for the increase for children born or raised, it operates from 3 children. The retiree must be the parent, guardian or have raised the children for 9 years before their 16th birthday. Its rate varies according to the periods of affiliation with Agirc-Arrco.
Sources:
- How are children taken into account for the employee’s retirement? – Public service
- Being a parent – Retirement insurance
- Increases linked to children: the general Social Security system pension and the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension – Agirc-Arrco