Family allowance funds face rising poverty: "We can see poverty gaining ground"

His hands twist a black ballpoint pen. Leaning slightly forward, he gazes intently at the receptionist who is checking his file. Franck H., wearing a black anorak and with a shaved head, explains that he no longer receives unemployment benefits and is therefore without resources. His application for the Family Allowance Fund (CAF) has been closed, and he doesn't know why. Franck hasn't figured out how to update it with his new address—he's staying with a friend—and to indicate his new bank. "It's okay, we'll apply for your RSA [active solidarity income] together," the receptionist reassures him. Beneath his jacket, the man's shoulders relax. He gives a small smile as he thanks.

Like some 1,500 people welcomed each day at the Rosny-sous-Bois branch (Seine-Saint-Denis), this fifty-year-old, lost in online procedures, has come to try to sort out his file. In the reception hall of the impersonal building located on the mail of this town on the outskirts of Paris, the crowd is heavy on this late October morning. Four booths arranged in a daisy chain allow CAF employees to receive the public behind a plexiglass window, a relic of the Covid-19 epidemic period that the agents in blue vests preferred to keep. The large green room echoes with voices explaining all sorts of cases: people come here to open a personalized housing assistance (APL) file, claim an activity bonus, report an accident, a job loss, or a birth. And above all, to try to understand what the software is asking for.

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