RSA income support comes into force
A new form of income support, the revenu de solidarité active officially starts this month.
THE revenu de solidarité active income support scheme has come into force to streamline payments made to the unemployed and to those starting work.
Anyone over 25, or with a child, receiving less than €880 a month can benefit.
The government says the RSA will immediately lift 700,000 people over the country’s poverty threshold of €880 per month – an estimated 7.9 million currently live below it.
President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to reduce this by one third within five years.
The minister in charge, Martin Hirsch said: “The financial crisis has made the RSA more indispensible than ever.”
The RSA affects three million households in France and replaces the RMI ( Revenu Minimum d'Insertion (RMI).
It has been financed since the beginning of this year through an extra 1.1% tax on capital revenues such as interest.
Payments continue once a person has found work and include transport and childcare costs to ensure a person will always earn more in work than remaining unemployed.
While the CFDT union has welcomed the scheme, the CGT union said it would “encourage employers to use more part time contracts, to lower salaries and not pay wages appropriate to the job”.
