Revenu de solidarité active

Revenu de solidarité active (RSA) (German: Active-Solidarity-Income ) is a social benefit paid out by the department in France , which is intended to guarantee its recipients a minimum income. The RSA was introduced in France on June 1, 2009 with Art. L262-2 Code de l'action sociale et des familles (with the exception of the overseas territories ). Before that, it had been in force on a trial basis in 34 departments from May 2007. Its legal basis is the TEPA law . The RSA replaced the French social assistance ( income minimum d'insertion , RMI for short, literally translated as “basic income for integration”) and the single parent allowance allocation de parent isolé (API). With the introduction of the RSA, the group of beneficiaries was expanded from approx. 1.1 million to 4.26 million people (as of March 2011). This is currently two million individual recipients, 370,000 roommates and 1.88 million children. The additional costs are financed by the increase in capital gains tax from 11% to 12.1%. The service was also introduced in the overseas territories on March 31, 2011. It is adjusted annually by decree on April 1st.

Eligibility requirements

With a few exceptions, only French citizens and persons who have had a residence and work permit in France for more than five years can receive benefits. Originally both unemployed and low-wage earners (top-up) benefited, now it is only the unemployed. Beneficiaries may not be detained and must be at least 25 years old. There is a separate RSA pour les jeunes for people under 25 ; however, they get the general RSA if they have a toddler or are pregnant. RSA recipients are required to actively seek employment.

Benefit level

The RSA is calculated from:
standard rate
- child benefit
- unemployment benefit
- other income
- housing benefit deduction

The standard rate is € 559.74 per month for single persons and € 839.61 for couple households (2019). Children are given increased entitlement for their custodians.

Top-up

Income from work is no longer taken into account, as was the case until 2015, and only 38% are counted towards the standard rate. Rather, under Art. 57 Loi Rebsamen , workers are now completely excluded from receiving benefits and instead receive a staggered employment bonus, the prime d'activité .

Accommodation costs

Unlike in Germany, the rent is not taken into account as a burden. Instead, depending on the personal situation, the family housing allowance, the social housing allowance for single persons or the social housing allowance for single persons in need of assistance will continue to be paid in parallel, but with a small housing allowance deduction in the RSA. This leads to RSA receivers being displaced from expensive residential areas, especially in large cities.