“Without the RSJ [revenu de solidarité jeune], it would have been complicated. » Eloïse, 24, still recounts with emotion a “very difficult episode in her life”. “In 2022, I was hospitalized twice for quite long periods,” she explains. I was in the second year of a master’s degree in research and at the same time, I had launched myself as a self-employed person. As I couldn’t go to the midterms, I lost my scholarships and as I hadn’t contributed enough to my company, I wasn’t able to receive anything. Despite some savings, I could no longer meet my needs. »
Panicked by the possibility of ending up on the street, she spoke about her situation to nurses who advised her to go to the local mission in Villeurbanne, near Lyon. “I was listened to and extremely well supported,” she says. We then took the steps for the RSJ and almost instantly, I was able to have 420 euros per month. It corresponded to the amount of my rent. » The young woman was able to benefit from it for six months, until “having the status of disabled worker recognized”, she specifies. “Thanks to the youth solidarity income, I was able to keep my apartment but above all, benefit from support in my healing process,” she adds. It’s an extraordinary device that is necessary, I talk about it to everyone around me, it’s not well known enough! »
“A source of savings for later”
Like Eloïse, nearly 2,000 young people living in the metropolis of Lyon have used this “safety net” since its launch in May 2021. For Bruno Bernard, president (EELV) of the metropolis, these figures “show that we had need this solution.” This aid, possible for people with less than 400 euros of activity resources per month and not benefiting from any other system, can be granted for a maximum period of twenty-four months spread over four years. After two years of experimentation, the metropolis concluded that on average, beneficiaries benefited for nine months.
“There is no young person who wants to stay in such a situation and be satisfied with 400 euros per month. The RSJ avoids falling into extreme poverty, it is an outstretched hand that secures the paths and avoids breaks. We are very satisfied with its implementation and we will continue to help, supports the president of the metropolis. Furthermore, we are not in competition with national measures, on the contrary, we are there to provide relief in the face of a lack, a void, for an entire category of the population. »
According to one investigation by the Jean-Jaurès Foundation, the beneficiaries are “very heterogeneous”. Despite this point, they all share a “certain number of difficulties with peripheral obstacles to employment (housing, health, mobility, family problems)” with 65% of young people expressing “at least one obstacle or more”.
A “real rebound effect” thanks to this financial aid
According to the EELV elected official, this system also provides “a source of savings for later”. “If we support people in temporary difficulty sooner, we avoid situations that get worse,” he summarizes. He also underlines “the weak financial effort” [dix millions d’euros de prévus et quatre réellement dépensés en deux ans] what the implementation of the system requires. Bruno Bernard is thus pushing the government to take up the matter.
If the metropolis of Lyon was the pioneer in this type of experiment, it was quickly followed by other departments, such as in Loire-Atlantique. On the banks of the Erdre, the progress report after one year is considered “positive”. Here, it is the departmental council which pilots the system, which has already benefited exactly 418 young people.
“It’s a quick response to career disruptions,” explains Jérôme Alemany, vice-president (PS) integration and fight against exclusion. We are satisfied because it made it possible to attract many young people who were not known to institutions or to Pôle emploi. » Beneficiaries “off the radar”, the vast majority of whom (90%) have a level equal to or below the baccalaureate, and who can thus obtain monthly aid between 150 and 500 euros, for four months, renewable. “The other satisfaction is that half of the young people concerned leave the system after this first phase, the time to resolve a situation,” continues Jérôme Alemany. There is therefore a real rebound effect thanks to this financial aid and the support offered. »
An observation which allows the community to respond to criticism from the opposition, who pointed out a risk of welfare. Ultimately, another limitation emerged: that of reaching the many young people in precarious situations who could qualify for it, but who do not report. “We expected to be more in demand, especially among students who number only a few dozen,” recognizes Michel Ménard, president of the departmental council, who was counting on a thousand beneficiaries in the first year. Young people’s income should “grow in strength” in the coming years in Loire-Atlantique. If a final evaluation will be carried out in 2025, the objective is also to fuel reflection around the relevance of a youth income at the national level.