RSA, APL, activity bonus… What does the government plan to avoid non-use of social assistance?

They find it difficult to make ends meet, but do not seek the aid to which they are entitled. According to one study from the Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics Department (DREES), in 2018, a third (34%) of households eligible for the RSA did not use it each quarter. Other social benefits, such as the APL, the activity bonus, the energy check, are not requested either by precarious people.

And this because they are sometimes unaware of the very existence of these devices, but also because the procedures are sometimes too complex to carry out or they require having a computer and an Internet connection. Without these financial boosts, some precarious people remain locked in poverty for a long time. Conversely, this aid allows some beneficiaries to get their heads above water. “France has 9 million poor people and without this system, they would be 12 million,” estimates the Ministry of Solidarity.

To fight against this scourge, the government first thought of merging all social benefits into the universal activity income (RUA). An abandoned idea, hence his new plan which provides for several devices, and that 20 minutes explains to you.

Solidarity at the source

This system aims to simplify the procedures for precarious people to obtain a social benefit. From July 2023, companies will have to specify on their employees’ pay slips the net social amount, which will be taken into account for calculate entitlements to social assistance. This system “will simplify the procedures for recipients who until now had to calculate themselves”, explains the Ministry of Solidarity.

This information will be forwarded to the CAF (Family allowance fund). Thanks to this, from the second half of 2024, recipients will receive their RSA, activity bonus or APL applications pre-filled. These documents will take into account salaries, retirement pensions and unemployment benefits received.

With this system, the government also hopes to prevent industrialists. Because regularly, beneficiaries have to repay sums that CAF paid them by mistake, which puts them in difficulty. The idea is also to limit fraud, specifies the Ministry of Solidarity.

Downside of the device: some income will not be directly integrated (income of self-employed workers, savings, alimony), and they will have to be added to the document. The family situation of the applicant will not be mentioned either, so it will have to be specified.

Experiments with zero non-recourse territories

There, it is a question of identifying the other people who do not have recourse to social assistance to encourage them to ask for it. To do this, territories will be selected this summer to participate in experiments aimed at identifying these people, contacting them and helping them with the formalities. These projects will be implemented from the start of the school year in September for three years, before a possible generalization.

One can imagine that certain territories will be inspired by the initiative implemented in Vénissieux (Rhône), where “rights ambassadors” go to meet the inhabitants to help them in their procedures for applying for benefits.

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