In politics, beautiful formulas sometimes hide more nuanced realities. The reform called “solidarity at source”, which is to be tested in five departments (Alpes-Maritimes, Aube, Hérault, Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Vendée), from 1Ahem October is a good illustration of this. According to the government’s communication, this reform is a way of facilitating access to social rights. “Today there is tax withholding. (…) I start from a clear principle: if the State knows how much you earn in order to collect taxes, it must know how to pay you what you owe.”explained former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in Franceinfo on June 18.
The aim of the reform is to simplify the lives of millions of beneficiaries. However, it is far from the initial ambitions shown by Emmanuel Macron during his presidential campaigns in 2017 and 2022, or when he proposed the establishment of a “universal income”.
In fact, the measure is reduced to the implementation of pre-filled resource forms for people who request the Active Solidarity Income (RSA) or the activity bonus. based on the pre-filling model of tax returns proposed by the tax authorities since 2006. It is therefore an administrative aid, rather than a disruption to the system of access to social benefits. The initiative to apply for the benefit will always fall to the beneficiaries, so the effect of the measure on the non-use rate has yet to be demonstrated, while around a third of potential RSA beneficiaries do not receive it.
Nicolas Grivel, director general of the National Family Allowance Fund, is also cautious on the matter. “The first to be concerned are those who already have the RSA or the activity bonus: this measure should make their lives easier.explains. I am thinking, for example, of those who alternate between odd jobs, have several employers, or who have abandoned these systems out of discouragement. The community of associations, for its part, welcomes the principle of measurement, seen as a step forward for vulnerable groups. “We are in favour of it a priori, because it can be a factor in limiting errors, provided that human support is up to the task.”says Daniel Verger, head of access to social benefits at Secours catholique.
It is not an “automatic payment”
Pre-filled forms may give the illusion that all you have to do is click through to complete your administrative procedures. But, as with income tax, recipients will still have to verify information and add some by hand. It is up to them, for example, to declare one-off donations from loved ones, deducted from the amount of the RSA or alimony.
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