RSA (ACTIVE INCOME OF SOLIDARITY)

The County Council of the Upper Rhine decided to condition the payment of RSA seven volunteer hours per week.

The RSA recipients have only increased, while the RSA was intended precisely innovative encouraging their return to work. In reality, the aid should be temporary become permanent, and offer no real incentive to work. The RSA may even be used to supplement the work not declared.

The RSA has two parts: the "base" RSA, a minimum income for those without resources who replaced the RMI and RSA "activity" that complements a small salary. The staff of the RSA base growing faster than the RSA activity alone, 8.3% between June 2012 and June 2013 (Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics-DREES "The RSA recipients end June 2013, "January 2014).

On the 1^st of January 2016, the monthly amount varies between RSA 524.16€ for a single person and 1100.74€ for a recipient couple with two children (209.55€ per additional child).

The annual cost of the RSA for public finances is far from negligible: over 10 billion euros, or 4 billion more than had been announced at launch (article "How the assistantship does it cost the French economy? ", special issue of Investigations taxpayer March and April 2014," the assistantship ruin France, "still available).

DREES had made in January 2014 a report on "The RSA recipients end June 2013". The figures are impressive:

1.     3.5 million people are covered by the RSA base and 1.2 million by the RSA activity.

2.    2,229,000 recipients households, or 4.7 million people taking account of spouses and dependent children, 30 June 2013. With 221,000 beneficiary households, 10% of RSA recipients reside in the DOM.
 

3.   About 1.7 million households benefit from its component "social minimum, the RSA base - and 492,000 of its" business income support "component - the RSA alone activity

On the other hand, it noted an increase in the number of holders of the active solidarity income (+ 5.4% in 2012).

1.     +7.2% of the number of beneficiaries of the RSA in 2013 as the National Family Allowances Fund.

2.   2.30 million homes RSA end of 2013.
 

3.   44% of benefits paid under the insert for departments between 2008/2012, far ahead for the elderly (10%), aid to disabled persons (+ 30%) and social assistance to Children (+ 6%). (Observatory of waste, "How much does the RSA?, 02/06/2014)

4.   At the end of 2013, 88% of RSA beneficiaries perceive this benefit for more than a year, and 52% for more than three years. (The Court of Auditors report on social minima of 26.11.2015)

The extension of the RSA for young people under 25 who are not caring for a child or an unborn child came into force on 1 September 2010 in France and 1 January 2011 in the overseas departments. The eligibility requirements are different from those of ordinary RSA because of previous activity duration affects earnings. It must indeed be able to demonstrate at least two years of full time equivalent activity (eg. 3 214 hours) during the three years preceding the application (DRESS, "The RSA recipients end in June 2013," January 2014).

When conditions deteriorate, increasing the number of recipients that results from a rise in the unemployment rate observed after the cessation of entitlement to unemployment insurance and unemployment assistance or other devices can take over (DRESS, "recipients of RSA end of June 2013," January 2014).

At this steady increase, are additional difficulties due to the administrative: management by the state, funding departments, benefit payments by the (CAF) Family Allowances Fund and (MSA) Mutual Agricultural Social.

The Court of Auditors, in its report of 26.11.2015, also suggested to bring all these welfare benefits in three major benefits. Only then would remain as RSA, to support the social and professional integration, the (AAH) Allowance for Disabled Adults, and the (ASPA) Solidarity Allowance for the Elderly.

In the Upper Rhine, where the departmental majority decided to condition the RSA seven volunteer hours, the situation is very serious:

1.     20,201 homes RSA recipients.

2.   8000 recipient of the RSA who are in this situation for over 5 years.

3.   Since 2010, the number of community charge to households increased by 61%.

4.   The expense allocation increased by 39%.

5.    The State compensates less the expense allowance RSA, only 50 million out of 100 million.

6.   First social budget item department.

According to Jean Marc Sauvé, Vice President of the State Council, "fraud in social matters, such as fiscal, has long enjoyed a certain indulgence in France. Two developments have also led to mitigate or even to reverse this finding. The first is awareness of the challenge represented by the fight against fraud, in a context of deterioration in social accounts. The second of these developments is the change in public opinion, which proceeds itself, including growing concerns that are emerging about the sustainability of our social protection system. "

·       2013 balance sheet of the national delegation to the fight against fraud: Scammers proportion of social benefits between 2.9% and 3.7%.

·       Financial impact of between 840 million and 1.1 billion euros.

·       RSA is the most defrauded social benefit with an increase of 16.5% of the fraud committed in 2013 and 800 million in overpayments in 2012.

The administrative fine sanctioning the false statement or deliberate omission declaration resulting in overpayment of RSA, can be imposed for offenses committed within a period of less than two years. It does not allow the cancellation of the beneficiary in case of fraud. (Art. L. 262-52 of the Code of Social Action and Families)

Unlike FCA, president of County Council has no power to swear in officials in charge of the fight against fraud to carry out checks, and he does not have the right to communicate with banking organizations, to verify real resources RSA beneficiaries in the event of suspected fraud.

I the UK there is three possibilities for the beneficiaries to continue receiving their benefits: the work of general interest, training or a daily visit to the Job Centre, the British equivalent of employment center. For those to accomplish an insertion internship or community service, the penalty is immediate for failure: suppression of their allowance for four weeks for the first offense, three months after the second. According to a YouGov survey: more than half of the UK population agrees with the idea of making the unemployed work in exchange for benefits (Le Figaro, 30/09/2013)

In Switzerland in some cities, applied since 2001 a measure to apply for consideration for one month of work to recipients of social assistance. The population has accepted this measure of common sense. At the end of this month of work, less than one in two would still need welfare. According to the statement of the City of Neuchâtel of 25 April 2014, these integration measures by the work prove Pay medium term: for every franc invested, four were saved.

In Denmark a job seeker, after no later than 9 months of unemployment, has the duty to carry "activate": it must be formed to strengthen soft skills, or do an internship in public or private undertaking or accept an assisted and continue his job search employment. It is on this condition that he continues to receive his compensation. (The World, 09/02/2012).

Widespread assistantship to a stalemate on fiscal, social and economic; but is especially true human disaster.

In the interest of the persons concerned, the most urgent reform to take is to establish a time limit for any measure of social care. Nobody should live his life on a drip of RSA, paid by taxpayers.

Moreover, it is totally impossible to lower taxes for French without reducing the weight of public expenditure linked to the assistantship.

The measure proposed by Eric Straumann in the department of Haut-Rhin not palliate the disproportionate increase in the number of recipients of the RSA, but going in the right direction: nothing is free to taxpayers, it is logical that society imposes a counterpart to the beneficiaries of the social assistance positively inserting them into a dynamic return to work.

This should be law!