The new paternity leave will be financed by savings on family allowances.

The planned cut to family allowances — namely the delay from 14 to 18 years of the increase in allowances — will make it possible to finance the new “birth leave” included in the draft budget of the Social Security system, the Minister of Health indicated on Wednesday.

This "additional birth leave" of two months per parent, paid at 70% of net salary in the first month and 60% in the second month, is a "self-financed measure, within the framework of the budgetary seriousness that has been proposed" in the draft social security financing law (PLFSS) for 2026, indicated Health Minister Stéphanie Rist, questioned by the Senate's Social Affairs Committee as part of the examination of budgetary texts.

This measure will not create an additional deficit for the social security system, as it will be financed by delaying the increase in family allowances from the age of 14 to 18 ( always paid from the second child onwards ), she said. This delay in the increase allows the family branch to save 200 million euros .

This delay is due to studies, notably by the Drees (Statistical Directorate of Social Ministries), but not only, which show that the cost of a child is significantly higher when they reach 18 years old rather than at 14 years old. This was not true years ago,” Stéphanie Rist further explained, believing that the aid will thus arrive at the time when it is “most effective”.

Regarding the new exceptional tax on supplementary health insurance, initially planned at 2.05% and could rise to 2.25% — or 1.1 billion euros — to finance the suspension of pension reform, the minister invoked the need for a "shared effort" between all actors in Social Security.

She announced the launch of a mission "with two qualified individuals in the coming days" to work on the links between health insurance and supplementary health insurance "to evolve our financing model".

Stéphanie Rist also strongly defended the doubling of medical deductibles paid by patients , which she prefers to call "responsibility packages".

"This is not about blaming, this is not about stigmatizing," she said, but there are "15,000, 16,000 people who see 25 general practitioners in a year," she said.

Furthermore, "18 million of our fellow citizens ( minors, pregnant women, beneficiaries of the solidarity supplement ) do not pay these deductibles" and will therefore not be affected, she indicated.

Stéphanie Rist finally clarified that the "collective efforts" made in the Social Security budget would notably allow funding for the France Santé houses announced by Sébastien Lecornu upon his arrival at Matignon, and whose missions are still very unclear.

"In the coming days, the Prime Minister will have the opportunity to clarify his vision" on these homes "which will be a real lever for access to care," she said.