SOCIAL ASSISTANCE: The city of Lyon and the departments of Loire-Atlantique and Ille-et-Vilaine have signed a joint letter to denounce any “blackmail at the RSA allowance”
- Emmanuel Macron has hinted that he would like to generalize an RSA “under conditions” obliging its beneficiaries to perform a certain number of hours of integration to receive their allowance.
- Several territories volunteering to test this new measure warn the President of the Republic against “blackmail on the allowance”.
- The departments of Loire-Atlantique, Ille-et-Vilaine and the metropolis of Lyon are concerned about the statements of the president.
In his speech, he announced that he wanted to make efforts “to bring as many RSA beneficiaries back to work”. Will President Emmanuel Macron generalize the measure of “RSA under conditions” to all of France? Already tested in 18 French departments since the beginning of April, this experiment requires recipients of active solidarity income to carry out 15 to 20 hours of integration activity per week to receive their social assistance, amounting to 607.75 euros for a single person.
This measure is far from being unanimous in the ranks of the elected representatives of the departmental councils who pay the RSA. Recently, Seine-Saint-Denis wanted to withdraw from the list of voluntary territories for experimentation. This Monday, April 24, three communities registered in the experiment took the floor jointly to express their point of view.
“Defending the right to better support”
The metropolis of Lyon, the department of Ille-et-Vilaine and that of Loire-Atlantique explain that they are “opposed to the RSA on condition” and want to “defend the right to better support”, explain Bruno Bernard, Jean-Luc Chenut and Michel Ménard, elected from Nupes. “We are convinced that everyone’s access to decent employment must be a national priority. It is unacceptable to point the finger at so-called assisted people when the public authorities do not offer them all the levers and aid to get out of precariousness. Collectively, we must work towards the goal of leaving no one without a solution”, express the three elected officials.
In their press release, the left-wing elected officials believe that RSA recipients “need to be better supported to overcome their difficulties and not to be further punished when they already live below the poverty line”. The elected officials denounce a “blackmail to the allowance” through a score of the hours of activity. The three local authorities plead in particular for bringing integration professionals closer to the business world, wishing for “more inclusive” recruitment and a better understanding of employment needs. About 40% of RSA recipients are registered with Pôle Emploi.
