France

Youth participation in programs designed to enhance their employability is usually low. This paper reports the results from a large randomized experiment in which young, unskilled jobseekers in France receive a monthly cash transfer for a two-year period totaling up to €4,800, conditional on their participation in the French national career guidance program. Cash transfers lead to a significant increase in program participation (which mainly entails meetings with counselors), and sharply reduced drop-out rates.

Emmanuel Macron is taking aim at French unemployment benefits, sparking the wrath of the country’s labor unions just as the Yellow Vest protests subside.

This paper is centered on the complementary roles played by pension communication/information and financial literacy for a sustainable and equitable nonfinancial defined contribution (NDC) system at both the micro and macro socioeconomic level.

The government is this week set to begin the process of reforming and simplifying the French benefits system to create a 'universal income' basket for people living in poverty looking to find work.The plan - a campaign pledge of President Emmanuel Macron as part of his strategy to fight poverty - will lead to the etablishment of a revenu universel d'activité (RUA) that will combine a number of existing and new financial incentives for anyone looking for employment - and those in low-paid or part-time jobs who still rely on benefits.

Social protection systems are often still designed for the archetypical full-time dependent employee. Work patterns deviating from this model – be it self-employment or online "gig work" – can lead to gaps in social protection coverage. Globalisation and digitalisation are likely to exacerbate this discrepancy as new technologies make it easier and cheaper to offer and find work online, and online work platforms have experienced spectacular growth in recent years.

About a quarter of Europe’s population lives at risk of poverty and exclusion. For migrants and refugees—who often face numerous barriers to integration—the risk of poverty is even higher. While many programs have been put in place to tackle exclusion across the continent, we still know little about which approaches work best.

The “Inequalities and Social Cohesion” conference will have as ambition to bring together practitioners and researchers around these issues, and take this debate to the civil society.

The conference will take place in Paris over two days.