Revenu de solidarité active

The Revenu de solidarité active (RSA) is a French form of in work welfare benefit aimed at reducing the barrier to return to work. It was implemented on 1 June 2009 by the French government.

RSA replaces the Revenu minimum d'insertion; its goal is to provide a minimum income for unemployed and underemployed workers, with the aim of encouraging them to find work, and provide a complement for low-wage workers so that they do not suffer the perverse effects of earning less through employment than unemployment.

A worker may receive both RSA and the Prime pour l'emploi (PPE), but the PPE amount is reduced depending on the amount of RSA collected.

RSA is also intended to replace Allocation de parent isolé (API) and ultimately various other government-sponsored back-to-work incentives and initiatives such as contrat unique d'insertion, contrat d'accompagnement dans l'emploi and contrat initiative emploi.

As of 1 January 2014, the monthly RSA allocation is €499.31 for a single person and €1079 for a couple with two children.

Although the initial programme applied only to workers over the age of 25, "La loi de finances pour 2010 (article 135)" extended benefits to young people aged 18 to 25 who have worked the equivalent of at least two years over the preceding three calendar years.

If a person earns from work less than the RSA threshold, the state pays a " negative income tax to the employee, the difference between the RSA and the earnings. Thus, there is no disincentive to work.

The monthly RSA benefit decreases as revenue from work increases until revenue from work reaches a maximum amount equivalent to the Minimum wage, €17,451 per person (2014).

...
Wikipedia