The fall in budgets will have “dramatic consequences” in the social and solidarity economy sector, its stakeholders denounce
Actors in the social and solidarity economy were alarmed on Wednesday by the fall in budgets planned for their sector by the Government, estimating the number of jobs destroyed at 186,000. Is ” to “disaster that will affect the daily lives of French people, from daycare centers to nursing homes.”, according to them. “It is the first kilometer of general interest that is affected: support for the elderly, integration, culture, daycare”denounced Benoît Hamon, president of the ESS, an association that brings together the actors and networks of the social and solidarity economy, that is, some 220,000 organizations.
During a press conference that brought together in particular the Union of Entrepreneurs of the Social and Solidarity Economy (UDES), the Mutualité française and the Associative Movement (700,000 associations), the participants estimated that the reduction in credits provided for in the project The budget for 2025 would cause the destruction of 186,000 jobs out of the approximately 2.6 million in the sector. The draft state budget discussed Wednesday in the Assembly committee foresees 60 billion euros in savings, including 40 billion in spending reductions and 20 billion in tax increases.
A drop that will have a “cumulative impact” of 8,260 million euros, according to the ESS, with the consequences “dramatic”alerts the UDES. “This will have direct impacts on local employment and services. The sector, which is already underfunded, will have to absorb further drastic reductions that could affect workers and weaken the structures that care for the most vulnerable.”deplored the UDES in a press release.
“The question of defending and preserving our nonprofit models arises more than ever”Claire Thoury, president of the association movement, also denounced. “It is a short-term policy. When the State saves on integration, on access to employment, that will have a cost tomorrow, in terms of an increase in poverty and social violence, which will be much greater.”Hamon, socialist candidate for the 2017 presidential elections, also warned.
