France plans to tighten labor market rules by narrowing the period in which unemployed citizens receive social payments, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said on Wednesday.
Explaining the government’s plans for further reforms, Attal told broadcaster TF1: “One of the options is to reduce the duration of payments.”
An unemployed worker aged 53 or younger currently receives up to 18 months of benefits, plus six months if there is a shortage of jobs. The duration extends to 22.5 months plus a further 7.5 months for workers between 53 and 54 years of age and 27 months and 9 months for those over 55 years of age.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has said previous attempts to reduce unemployment benefits have not been enough and that a new push is needed to put more people back to work and reduce an excessive state budget deficit.
In addition to shortening the duration of unemployment insurance, Attal said the government is considering tightening requirements for eligibility for benefits.
“Currently, you have to have worked six months in the last two years,” he said. “We can imagine saying that either you have to have worked more or that the six months refers to a shorter period, not 24 months but, for example, 18 months.”
“I want to detail this reform by the summer so it can take effect by the fall,” he said.
Source: Terra
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