Unemployment insurance: a reform by the end of the year, Gabriel Attal puts forward three possible avenues

The day after the publication of INSEE figures on the French deficit, Gabriel Attal was the guest on TF1's 20 Hours on Wednesday evening. The opportunity to announce a reform of unemployment insurance this year.

The public deficit has slipped in 2023, we could read here and there, Tuesday March 26, in the French press. According to INSEE, last year the deficit amounted to 5.5% of GDP. The government was counting on 4.9%. Expected on the economic aspect this Wednesday evening in his interview given to the 8 p.m. news on TF1, the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, revealed his first decisions aimed at stemming the French debt. Among them: unemployment insurance reform.

The tenant of Matignon did not beat around the bush and clearly announced the color. “There will be a reform of unemployment insurance within the year,” he said, arguing once again that the government’s goal is to achieve full employment. “My objective is not to attack a particular individual or the unemployed, it is to move a system to encourage more people to return to work,” explained Gabriel Attal, before discuss the government's different avenues.

The first of the three mentioned is that of the duration of compensation. To encourage a return to employment, this could be reduced. "Today, it is 18 months. One of the ways is to reduce this duration by several months", explained Gabriel Attal for whom it is however not desirable for the duration of compensation to fall below 12 months. Second avenue mentioned by the head of government, that of the working time necessary to be able to benefit from unemployment. To date, six months of work over the last two years are required. The possibility of extending these six months or reducing the duration of two years is not excluded. Gabriel Attal, however, stressed that his preference was, for the moment, for the third option: that of "the level of unemployment compensation and how it falls to encourage people to return to work", he explained. In terms of timetable, the Prime Minister wants “the parameters to be presented this summer, for reform in the fall”.