A hard blow is expected for many households.
The month of September is hated by all wallets: back-to-school expenses, property tax payments, income tax deductions… So many compulsory expenses that visibly diminish the bank account. However, some good news was expected in this difficult post-summer period: three million French people were due to see their salaries increase in a few days. In the end, nothing will come of it. A hard blow.
The economic experts who decide whether or not this revaluation will be implemented were themselves disconcerted to see their forecasts fall through. “In July, we were anticipating a revaluation in the fall,” acknowledged economists from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), “but we were surprised by inflation that is lower than expected.”
Inflation is what allows us to calculate the increase in the Minimum Interprofessional Growth Wage (SMIC). More specifically, it is the inflation for the 20% of the poorest households that is taken into account. As their purchasing power is lower than that of an average household, this segment of the population is further weakened by the rise in prices.
The institute calculates this increase between November 2023 and August 2024. Since this is less than 2% (the minimum required to increase the minimum wage), the minimum wage will not be revalued on 1er November. “The figures will be just below the threshold. If the threshold is not passed in August, there is no reason why it will be crossed by September or October,” the organization concedes, explaining that the French consume less at the end of the year.
But while the Insee confided this summer to The Internet user that the increase in prices during the Olympic Games in Paris was supposed to allow this 2% to be exceeded, what happened? The institute’s data shows that political instability led to a drop in business investment, thus slowing down the rate of inflation and therefore preventing the minimum wage from being increased in the autumn, by almost 30 euros net per month. The minimum wage will therefore remain at 1,398.69 euros net per month until 1er January, when it will be automatically increased.