The executive is delaying the specific solidarity allowance (ASS). The Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Health, Catherine Vautrin, received around fifteen solidarity associations on Monday, June 3, to present the government’s priorities. During this meeting, she suggested, according to her interlocutors, that the abolition of the ASS was no longer on the agenda.
The Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, announced the switch from this benefit created in 1984 to the active solidarity income (RSA), during his general policy declaration to Parliament in January. But the subject has not been discussed since. If the project is no longer relevant in the short term, the government assures that it is not buried yet. “The minister (only) indicated that at a time when the government is reforming unemployment insurance, this is not an immediate topical issue”Ms. Vautrin’s office quickly clarified.
The ASS, which is financed by the State – at an estimated cost of 1.65 billion euros in 2024 – is granted, under certain conditions, to job seekers who have exhausted all their unemployment insurance rights. . If it were abolished, unemployed people at the end of their rights would have to apply for RSA which is covered by the departments. The latter, like the left, the unions and associations fighting against poverty, are firmly opposed to the government’s project.
A “listening” minister
“We can rejoice in this decision”, reacted Noam Leandri, the president of the Alerte collective, which brings together 34 associations fighting against poverty, during a press conference organized after the meeting at the ministry. Catherine Vautrin’s statements confirm a desire not to make this project a priority since she had already made this type of proposal during a meeting with the majority deputies. “I think that the project is abandoned because it would lead to an increase in RSA beneficiaries, and I suppose that the departments have stepped up to oppose it”guesses a Renaissance deputy specializing in these subjects.
Association leaders who participated in Monday’s meeting noted two other positive points. According to Noam Léandri, “Catherine Vautrin told us she was fighting so that next year there would be more youth employment contracts”a system which provides 18-25 year olds with fifteen to twenty hours of weekly activity support in return for a monthly allowance of 528 euros.
You have 53.92% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.