A new rule will come into force and penalize the unemployed a little more.
This is not new to anyone: the government wants and will tighten the conditions of access to unemployment. A turn of the screw to push unemployed people to quickly return to an activity, regardless of their aspirations or skills. The very essence of reform lies elsewhere: work. While changes to the minimum length of time one must have worked to obtain unemployment have already been announced, a detail on the amount of benefit received by unemployed people has gone under the radar. However, this is not negligible since it will have a significant impact on the budget of the unemployed.
We might as well say it right away, this is not good news ahead. In line with the savings introduced, the government also intends to cut back on the payments made every month by France Travail: concretely, the unemployed will lose money compared to the rules currently in force. A new method of calculating benefits will be introduced: simpler, of course, but more penalizing for the unemployed.
Currently, when you find yourself unemployed, France Travail determines the daily amount it pays you to compensate for your loss of income and this is paid as many times as the month has days. Thus, the allowance is multiplied by 28, 30 or 31 depending on the month. With the reform, the operation will be different: the monthly amount of unemployment benefit will correspond to 30 days of daily compensation, regardless of whether the month has 28 (or 29), 30 or 31 days! Every month, the unemployed will therefore receive exactly the same amount.
While this may appear to be a simplification, it will especially harm them. Concretely, in the months of January, March, May, July, August, October and December, the unemployed will therefore be reduced by one day of compensation. In April, June, September and November, this would not change anything. In February, this would add one or two days of extra compensation. Over one year, this would therefore result in beneficiaries losing five to six days of benefits, or €170 to €204 gross annually (the median amount of daily unemployment benefit is €34 gross).
The idea had already been put forward by employers’ organizations during the fall, but was initially not taken up by the government. However, according to Capital magazine, this will be implemented from 1er December, despite opposition from unions. The savings objective is assumed since the calculation has already been made: 316 million euros are saved each year by France Travail.