Guest of France Bleu Gironde on Monday, the president of Secours Catholique in France, and former assistant to Alain Juppé in Bordeaux, Véronique Fayet, pleaded for an increased RSA to “700 or 800 euros to get your head out of the water“. Currently 564.79 euros for a single person, the Revenu de solidarité active has seen its number of beneficiaries increase by 8.5% since the start of 2020. They were just over 2 million in October, according to an investigation by FNARS, the National Federation of Solidarity Actors.
Self-employed, self-employed, artisans, traders, show workers …
A figure that Véronique Fayet cannot find “not so surprising“, although she emphasizes that”the Gironde is not doing too badly, being in the national average “. To Catholic Relief, “we have seen the arrival of people who work, self-employed workers who have not had the right to partial unemployment. Self-entrepreneurs, craftsmen, traders, intermittent entertainment workers who had insufficiently worked“, she describes.
It’s not an income that allows you to live, it just allows you to survive
For those workers with higher incomes the shock is severe. “At RSA, we suddenly fall to 500 euros. It’s not an income that allows you to live, it just allows you to survive, to keep your head above water “. If the health crisis has therefore made many French people vulnerable, it “can make us realize, finally, that this income from the RSA, even if it has many advantages, is insufficient. 500 euros is not a dignified income, we should be able to benefit from a decent income”, Véronique Fayet analysis.
Listen to Véronique Fayet’s interview on France Bleu Gironde
The president of Secours Catholique quotes a number of improvements to be made to the RSA. “It is not automatic, there are 30% of people who should touch it who do not touch it“, she says. “There are also a lot of penalties that occur when people have not completed a paper, have not come to a summons. And so, it is no longer 500 euros that they have, but half, or even less“. “Less administrative paperwork will allow for more social support“, she continues.
She pleads for “an automatic income, without compensation, and open to young people“, insisting on under 25 who are not currently eligible for RSA. On December 4, in an interview with Brut, Emmanuel Macron said to himself “not a fan“from the idea of extending it to young people.
“Young people are in danger a whole generation ago that we should be able to help with a springboard income. An allowance to be able to eat, live, and participate in accommodation costs“, wishes Véronique Fayet, insisting on support.”First of all, young people want us to support them to find a job, a better qualification, a usefulness in their life. They must be able to emerge from inactivity, from the uselessness that undermines and destroys them. It’s not good for these young people to stay out of work, they want to work“, she concludes.
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