For fifteen years, the solidarity allowance for the elderly (Aspa) has guaranteed a minimum income to retirees who have little or no contributions to old-age insurance. It took over from the various benefits that made up the minimum old age created in 1956. An essential safety net aimed at reducing poverty among seniors. However, according to a recent study, only half of the people who are eligible for it apply for it.
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Minimum age
Before being able to apply for Aspa, you must have asserted your retirement pension rights. In addition, you must reside in France for more than six months (or 180 days) during the calendar year in which the allowance is paid. It is canceled in the event of departure outside the territory. Finally, the applicant must be at least 65 years old (62 in certain situations, particularly in the event of incapacity for work and permanent incapacity of at least 50%). As for nationals of a foreign country (outside the European Union), they must, in order to claim aid, have held a residence permit for at least 10 years.
Means test
Household income, including Aspa, must not exceed €11,001.44 per year, or €916.78 per month, for a single person in 2022, and €17,079.77, or €1,423.31 per month , for a couple (married, PACS or cohabitant). Almost all income is taken into account: old-age and disability benefits, professional income (which is subject to an allowance), income from investments and real estate (which is not taken into account for their real amount but estimated at 3% of the value of the investment or property), including property that has been donated within the last ten years. On the other hand, the value of the principal residence, the buildings of the agricultural exploitation, the family allowances, the allowance housing are excluded from the calculation.
Rising
The Aspa is a differential allowance, which means that its amount varies according to the beneficiary’s income. It is used to bring the recipient’s resources up to the amount of the resource ceiling, i.e. €916.78 per month for a single person in 2022 and €1,423.31 per month for a couple (married, PACS or cohabitant). Example: if the applicant, single, has a monthly income of €700, the amount of the Aspa will be equal to 916.78 – 700 = €216.78 per month.
Despite the strong revaluation – of a hundred euros – which it was subject to from 2018 to 2020, the Aspa is still below the poverty line (set at €1,102 for a person living alone in 2019).
A request or nothing
A study by the Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics Department (Drees) published on May 20, 2022 (1) reveals that half of the people who are entitled to Aspa do not use it. This allocation is “querable”, this means that potential beneficiaries must submit a request to the pension fund to which they belong, its payment is not automatic (2). The DREEs estimates the amount of the allowance that these people would receive if they applied for it at €205 per month.
Beware of inheritance recovery
To explain this high rate of non-use, two reasons can be put forward. On the one hand, the ignorance of the device. The latter would gain in efficiency if the payment of social benefits were automated, a promise of reform that was already included in Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 program. It could be implemented during his second term.
On the other hand, the recovery of the inheritance allowance. The aid paid can in fact be taken from the estate of the beneficiary after his death on the fraction of the net assets which exceeds €39,000 (€100,000 overseas until 31 December 2026). A gesture has been made in favor of rural pensioners: agricultural operating capital is excluded from the scope of this collection. These are farm buildings, land, livestock, plant elements such as fruit trees and vines or even elements included in the agricultural fund created. The action for recovery is prescribed by 5 years from the moment when the fund became aware of the death of the beneficiary. It is certain that the fact that this benefit is in reality only an advance which must be reimbursed at the time of the death of the person assisted has a very dissuasive effect on the elderly. In an October 2021 report, the Court of Auditors highlighted the high rate of non-recourse and also pointed to the complexity of the system and the frequent liquidation errors. Nevertheless, it considered this solidarity mechanism to be effective in combating the precariousness of the elderly (3).
(1) The non-recourse to the minimum old age for single people, DREES Files n° 97, May 2022 (PDF file).
(2) To apply for Aspa from the general social security system: Cerfa form no. 13710*02.
(3) Report of the Court of Auditors “The minimum old age and the back-to-school allowance: a strong contribution to poverty reduction, contrasting management performance”October 2021.
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