Social Protection in France - History - Recent Evolution

Recent Evolution

In recent years, there were growing concerns about the rise in social exclusion among the population. According to a survey published by the CREDOC, a third of people between 25 and 59 had difficulty of insertion (unemployment during more than a year, beneficiaries of minimum social assistance or helped contract). On 2 October 2007, the newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the organization of a Grenelle Insertion dedicated to the transformation of integration policies. Dedicated to return to work, the Grenelle insertion was concluded on 27 May 2008. It insisted on the need to reform the insertion system.

The various measures that had implemented to fight social exclusion -in particular the income support allowance (RMI), the single parent allowance (API) and the allocation disabled adult (AAH)- were criticized for favoring unemployment and working poverty, exclusion and precariousness. Indeed, the government claimed the gains from return to work, after a period of unemployment, were offset by the reduction of social benefits paid in the previous period. That led to threshold effects and to inactivity trap situations. The National Observatory of Poverty and social exclusion said that the number of excluded people was deteriorating, while the number of working poor's was increasing (1.7 million in 2005).

The Grenelle Insertion was initiated on November 2007 to establish, for 6 months, negotiations and talks between social partners to rethink the whole system of insertion. Notably, it was decided that the income of active solidarity (RSA) be implemented. The RSA is intended to offset the loss of certain social benefits when resuming employment and provides additional income to the working poor.