Even before the so-called “full employment” reform adopted in 2023 and supposed to be generalized on January 1, 2025, the 2 million RSA beneficiaries were not as inactive as the media and political foam often suggests. of the debate around their insertion. A quarter of them (24%) held at least one salaried job over a period between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022, according to a study by the Directorate for the Animation of Research, Studies and statistics from the Ministry of Labor (Dares) published this Wednesday, October 9. And the time spent in employment was not negligible for those concerned, since it amounted to four months (continuous or not) on average. On the other hand, few people have had the experience of a permanent contract (only 8%).
Situations less monolithic than one might think
Dares distinguishes routes according to two situations. On the one hand, there are the RSA recipients who were registered with France Travail (Pôle Emploi at the time) in June 2022, when the photograph was taken. Among these, a third had been in paid employment in the previous twelve months, for an average duration of four months. Those who, on the other hand, were not registered with France Travail in June 2022 were fewer (one in five) to have been employed in the past year, but this time was a little longer (five months on average). These data suggest that the situations of RSA recipients are not as monolithic as one might believe, and that the boundaries between inactivity, job search and employment are porous.
Proof of this is that if they received the RSA on average ten months during the last twelve months, almost two thirds (59%) of the beneficiaries also went through the France Travail box over the same period, for a duration of average registration of eight months. Enough to put into perspective the government argument which governed the “full employment” reform according to which a minority of beneficiaries (42%) were registered with France Travail. Certainly, this was valid for a given date (in this case, June 2022)but did not necessarily correspond to what those concerned experienced over a longer period of time.
500 fewer positions at France Travail
The statistical issue is not neutral to the extent that the reform in question provides for the automatic registration with France Travail, on January 1, 2025, of all RSA recipients and their possible spouses. This could lead to an increase in the number of job seekers, which was estimated at 1.2 million people based on only 42% of registered people recorded so far. Considering that many more people would have registered during the year anyway, the increase in registrations may be less dramatic.
These data also raise questions about the support provided by France Travail during the period when RSA beneficiaries are registered there. The 2023 reform provides that they will now be subject to “reinforced support” by the operator, which would involve the hiring of additional agents. However, the draft budget for 2025, which will be unveiled on Thursday October 10, on the contrary provides for a reduction of 500 positions within France Travail. What all of its unions denounced this Wednesday, October 9 in a press release, announcing that they would meet “in the coming days to consider the necessary actions”.
Source: www.liberation.fr
