“I feel like a problem for the country. Target. Point at. » Michaël, 33, has been bitter since Emmanuel Macron offered to condition the payment of the Active Solidarity Income (RSA) to an activity of 15 to 20 hours per week. “Everyone needs a subsistence income, but also asks them for a share of duty”, justified the president-candidate.
He is not the only one to propose such a measure. since Valérie Pécresse wants to condition the RSA to fifteen hours per week in “integration activities”.
Despite a Master-2 in the field of social and solidarity economy, Michaël did not manage to find a job when he left school in 2016, because of a CV that he describes as “almost empty”.
A feeling of “shame”
Faced with the refusal or lack of response to his applications, the young man finally decides to apply for the RSA at the end of 2019. “Before, I didn’t want to. Out of pride, out of desire for personal success. Out of shame too. »
Radiated from the RSA at the end of last year, Michaël had to ” to beat “ to retrieve it. Today he receives €457.50. A sum that does not allow him to be independent. Fortunately he can count on his mother: “I’m lucky because the family home is still open to me. »
If he doesn’t want “not to talk about bad living conditions”he assures however to reflect “before going to the doctor” and hopes to find a job soon.
“I was never able to go back to work”
Sonia, 48, already believes she has “a full-time job”. After working in the catering industry in the West Indies, she had to give up her activity twelve years ago, when her son was born, severely disabled due to a medical error.
“He can’t eat, sit or walk and he can’t see. » Arriving in mainland France so that her child is better supported, Sonia faces “a completely unsuitable society”.
If her son, whom she is raising alone, goes to a specialized establishment four times a week, Sonia encounters many difficulties: “Never a crèche wanted to take him, there is no suitable leisure center. It is a constant support, I have never been able to return to work. »
“I consider that I am not stealing these €575”
To get help, Sonia now receives the education allowance for disabled children, around €1,200 per month. “This money is used to pay for the equipment for my son, it costs a fortune. His last chair, for example, cost €2,000. »
Besides that, Sonia receives €575 from RSA. “It allows me to live myself, it’s the vital minimum”she explains. “I’m not going to complain but when I hear Emmanuel Macron, I jump to the ceiling”continues this mother totally opposed to the outgoing president’s reform proposal.
“I work a lot and I already know that my retirement is going to be extremely limited so I don’t think I’m stealing this €575. The RSA remains a social minimum, perhaps politicians should live with this sum to realize that we are not doing crazy things.launches Sonia again.
She also complains about the numerous checks to which RSA beneficiaries are subject. “Fraudulent practices must exist but in my opinion they are limited. We pay people to control the poor when I am sure that tax evasion is much more important. There is only to see the McKinsey case »she regrets.
“We don’t live, we survive”
Céline is 44 years old and is also a single mother. Today, she devotes her life to raising her 8-year-old son. “I was forced to stop working when I was pregnant and I didn’t resume because I had no way to keep it, it was very expensive”she says.
At the same time, her health deteriorates, Céline has back pain, loses a lot of weight and falls into depression. “They tell me that I am unfit to work but I have been refused the disabled worker allowance. »
She lives today thanks to the RSA and family allowances. In total: €705 per month. “With that, we don’t live, we survive. Once I’ve paid all my bills, I’m already overdrawn. » To eat her fill, Sonia organizes herself: “I buy what is about to expire and freeze it. And when there is not enough meat, I deprive myself for my son. »
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“I’m going to be stuck”
In 2020, Céline had to take training so as not to lose her RSA, “but it was not at all suitable”. She regrets the number of steps necessary to obtain the aid. “I did it for my son, otherwise I would have given up. »
Céline foresees with concern the prospect of having to do an activity for fifteen or twenty hours a week, if Emmanuel Macron is re-elected, and advocates the ” case by case “. “If I have to do this, I’m going to be stuck and I’m going to find myself really in need. Sometimes I tell myself that there would be nothing left but to bury me if I had to work. »