Asked by France 3 about the back-to-school allowance, the Minister of Education suggested that this money would not always be used to prepare for the return to school … An idea that the facts contradict.
This year, the back-to-school allowance was paid at no less than three million families with modest incomes in France and under certain conditions. Assigned in mid-August, this financial assistance amounts on average to just under 400 euros per child and is supposed to be used for the purchase of school supplies before the schools start again. Recently, the deputy (MoDem) of Nièvre Perrine Goulet proposed that this allowance be now paid in the form of checks, in the same principle as meal vouchers. The objective: to ensure that the latter really benefits the children and therefore the purchase of school equipment in anticipation of the start of the school year. Asked about this on the set of France 3, August 29, 2021, the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer suggested that it was not always the case by declaring at the microphone: ” We know that there are sometimes larger purchases of flat screens in September than at other times “.
A theory denied by CAF
It turns out that a study conducted by the Caisse d’Allocations Familiales contradicts the statements of the Minister of Education, who is notably accused of not having cited sources during his televised speech. In fact, a survey dating back to 2013 tells us that 95% of parents declared having used the back-to-school allowance for purchasing school supplies and clothing. If this study is starting to date, no other proving the contrary has been carried out since. In other words, it cannot be said that the back-to-school allowance is used for purposes other than those initially intended. A proposal similar to that of Perrine Goulet had already been rejected in 2017 for these same reasons. At the time, Agnès Buzyn – former Minister of Solidarity and Health – also judged this solution more expensive and more restrictive that a simple transfer, while the payment of the back-to-school allowance already represents an expenditure of 1.5 billion euros for the state budget.