Secours catholique opposes the new rules for access to the RSA

2023-09-13 18:39:53

“We put a crazy amount of money into social minimums and people can’t get by. » Five years later, Emmanuel Macron’s controversial sentence, pronounced on June 12, 2018 and shared on Twitter (now named “X”), continues to cause ink to flow.

On Wednesday September 13, the Secours catholique and AequitaZ associations, specializing in the “fight for social justice”, published a new report, “A crazy job”, in reference to the expression of the President of the Republic. The result of a one and a half year investigation, it aims to recount and analyze the daily lives of unemployed people living on minimum social benefits and carrying out numerous non-market activities.

The objective? “ Change our outlook and recognize the domestic, voluntary, care activities… carried out by these people, which are useful and vital contributions to our society », Supports Véronique Devise, president of Secours catholique – Caritas France.

Rejection of the “full employment” bill

The publication of this study comes a few days before the arrival of the “full employment” bill in the National Assembly, Monday September 18. The text, approved by the Senate last July, notably provides for a reform of the active solidarity income (RSA) – €607.75 per month from which people without resources can benefit. The government wishes to make this allowance conditional on participation in 15 to 20 hours of training or activity per week, in order to bring these precarious populations back into employment.

This tightening of rules frightens associations fighting against poverty, who see it as an additional barrier to access to “survival income” as well as a negation of the reality experienced by most recipients. “ These 15-20 hours are strictly employment oriented. They add constrained activities to complex lives », underlines Marion Ducasse. For the co-editor of the report and member of AequitaZ, this political measure reinforces “ the postulate that these people do nothing, which is fundamentally false ».

Essential activities for society

Childcare, care and support activities, volunteering, solidarity… The study reminds us that these activities, essential for our society and experienced more or less by everyone, are for some so important that they replace or prevent holding a job. Thus, according to Drees, the statistical department of the Ministry of Health, a third of RSA beneficiaries are single-parent families, most of them single mothers who cannot find a solution for the care of their children.

Contributor to the report, Germaine Ndongami talks about her experience as a cook, a sewing teacher, a caregiver for her sick husband, a caretaker for her grandchildren… Many hats which earn her a busy schedule, but no financial remuneration.

No economic or social recognition

« Despite all these activities that have occupied me for ten years, I have no economic or social recognitionsays the sixty-year-old. My only resource is the RSA and a pension of €600 from my husband. At the end of the year, I will also retire, and will receive €300 per month. »

The study finally highlights that domestic work time was equivalent to paid work time in 2010 (latest data from INSEE), and that if household and parental tasks were delegated to professionals, French GDP would increase by a third. .

Value and recognize these non-employment activities

As for the new rules for access to the RSA, the fears of the associations are twofold. Initially, they fear the collapse of a socio-economic system which relies on these mutual aid activities, already “poorly recognized or even neglected »in the words of the report.

Moreover, ” there is a real risk of dropping out », warns Marion Ducasse. Despite the government’s desire to automate payment to combat non-recourse, the AequitaZ representative fears that “ many give up the standoff and therefore abandon this survival income. And the whole of society will pay for it: degraded family situations, the associative world in difficulty… »

« Conversely, we promote a logic of recognition, trust, freedom », adds Daniel Verger, head of the “Access to work and social protection” department of Secours catholique. The associations thus share several proposals, such as increasing the RSA to half the median salary (currently at €1,850 net), opening it up to 15-25 year olds, or even covering the costs generated by activities. judged “useful and vital” for these unemployed people.