Dominique Meda: “The biggest uncertainty is what policy will actually be implemented for the RSA”

StWho should we believe? The President of the Republic, who announced during the presidential campaign that for recipients of active solidarity income (RSA) will be a. “Obligation to dedicate fifteen to twenty hours a week to activities leading to professional integration”Or the report on the missions of France Travail, presented on April 19 by the High Commissioner for Employment and Business Commitment, Thibaut Guillouis, which indicates that more intensive courses will be tested from fifteen to twenty hours, but only “For those who need it” ? The greatest uncertainty actually reigns over the policies that will actually be implemented to correct what the Court of Auditors sees as a real failure: support for RSA recipients.

In 1988, the law creating the Integrated Minimum Income, RMI, was unanimously adopted and referred to in Article 1 thereof.^Ehthat “Social and professional integration of disadvantaged people is a national imperative” : It was really the duty of society. Article 37 of the law specified the various forms of this integration and included specific activities that would allow the beneficiaries to regain or develop social autonomy.

But this concept of solidarity quickly came under fire as the number of adopters grew as an idea “inaction trap” (Beneficiaries will lose their ability to return to work) and that the image of the lazy and fraudulent recipient, promoted and passed on by political leaders, extended to ever larger sections of society. Undoubtedly, the President of the Republic was addressing himself by saying that there is no right without a duty, and in violation of French tradition, he meant that it would be necessary to pay an allowance. He also expressed the opinion, as France Travail reports, that it is incomprehensible that so many beneficiaries work (17%) when there are serious difficulties.

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However, there are a few facts to keep in mind: RSA is a ‘differential’ allowance, i.e. the amount paid only supplements the family’s income to reach a certain amount (currently €607 per person only). It is also a “family” allowance: the income of the whole family (including social benefits) is taken into account.