French Prime Minister Jean Castel visited the Emmaüs solidarité reception center in Epinay-sur-Orge-sur-Orge, Paris Region, on the 24th, and announced a series of targeting the poor The new measures allocated more than 700 million euros.
According to the “Parisian” report, Jean Castel introduced that from the beginning of December, a one-time assistance of 150 euros will be issued to 750,000 students receiving grants and 560,000 young people receiving housing subsidies.
The French government will fight poverty through the promotion of employment within the framework of “Integration into Economic Activities” (IAE), so that people away from the workplace can benefit from enhanced support and re-employment. Specifically, the government will spend 150 million euros to add an additional 30,000 jobs on the basis of an additional 240,000 jobs by 2022. The government also plans to allocate 120 million euros to increase employment in priority urban areas, and the proportion of state subsidies will increase from 50% to 80%.
On the other hand, the French poverty alleviation policy focuses more on housing and emergency shelters. Prime Minister Jean Castel and Housing Minister Emmanuel Vagon jointly announced on the 24th that they will provide 1,500 shelter seats and social assistance places for homeless women to prevent them from sleeping in hospitals or on the streets. This long-awaited measure was welcomed by the Emmaus Solidarity Association and the Abbey Pierre Foundation.
In addition, in the context of Coronavirus Pandemic, the “winter plan” that usually starts on November 1 has been advanced to October 18. According to Bruno Morrel, president of the Emaus Solidarity Association, the situation faced by the homeless in Paris is urgent. About 3,000 people call the 115 emergency hotline every night, and more than 150 people sleep in the Wansen Forest. But the “winter plan” is different from the “winter break”. The former aims to provide shelter for the homeless, and the latter is to suspend the eviction of tenants owed.
In terms of housing, Jean Castel announced the relaxation of the rent subsidy standard set in the “Housing Action” plan in June this year. According to the original plan, this subsidy of 150 euros per month is designed to help pay rent. The assistance is targeted at the unemployed whose housing budget accounts for more than 40% of their income. The benefit period is 2 months; now it is adjusted to housing budget accounting for one-third of income 1. The benefit period is extended to 6 months.
The Emmaus Solidarity Association and the A. Pierre Foundation believe that the government has made efforts, but these temporary poverty alleviation measures are still insufficient. In the context of Coronavirus, the number of people receiving positive mutual aid income allowances and various food aids is increasing, and the number of poor families following the epidemic crisis has risen sharply.
