French help with childcare costs (CMG) in France
France does not cap a rate and refund a share of it. The CMG pays up to a monthly ceiling that falls as your income rises, and since the September 2025 reform only some routes have a ceiling at all. The two below are the ones service-public publishes a figure for. Checked 23 September 2026.
For direct employment — hiring an assistante maternelle or someone at home yourself — there is no longer a ceiling, so no honest figure can be shown here and the official simulator is the only answer. A crèche place is priced from your own income on a municipal scale, which is not published nationally, so it is not here either. Every figure below is from service-public; none is a Paperbump estimate. In 2026 that is up to €992.12 a month for micro-crèche and up to €992.12 a month for care at your home through an approved organisme.
General information, not financial advice; prices are estimates.
What each route costs
| Type of care | What the figure is |
|---|---|
| Micro-crèche | up to €992.12 a month |
| Care at your home through an approved organisme | up to €992.12 a month |
- Micro-crèche
- A collective setting of at most 12 places, charging no more than 10 € an hour — above that hourly rate the CMG does not apply at all. The complement covers up to 85% of what you owe the micro-crèche, within a monthly ceiling. The child must be under 6. For a couple with one child, on 2024 net categorical income: up to 24 333 € a year the ceiling is 992,12 € a month for a child under 3 and 496,06 € for a child of 3 to 6; between 24 333 € and 54 075 € it is 855,25 € and 427,63 €; above 54 075 € it is 718,41 € and 359,21 €. For a single parent: up to 34 066 € it is 1 289,77 € and 644,88 €; between 34 066 € and 75 705 € it is 1 111,82 € and 555,92 €; above 75 705 € it is 933,94 € and 466,98 €.
- Care at your home through an approved organisme
- An association or company, approved by the préfet, that employs the person caring for your child at your home. You are not the employer, which is what keeps this route inside a published ceiling. The child must be under 6, and the ceilings are the same table as the micro-crèche. For a couple with one child, on 2024 net categorical income: up to 24 333 € a year the ceiling is 992,12 € a month for a child under 3 and 496,06 € for a child of 3 to 6; between 24 333 € and 54 075 € it is 855,25 € and 427,63 €; above 54 075 € it is 718,41 € and 359,21 €. For a single parent: up to 34 066 € it is 1 289,77 € and 644,88 €; between 34 066 € and 75 705 € it is 1 111,82 € and 555,92 €; above 75 705 € it is 933,94 € and 466,98 €.
3 things that change the figure
- Since the September 2025 reform there is no ceiling on the CMG for direct employment, so hiring an assistante maternelle or someone at home yourself cannot be shown as a figure here.
- The ceiling falls in three income bands and halves once the child turns 3; the income counted is your 2024 net categorical income for 2026.
- The CMG is claimed once the care has actually started, not in advance.
Where these figures come from
Figures for 2026, checked 23 September 2026. Each one is reviewed on its own timetable rather than on a single date in the year.
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