Prejudices die hard. An Unédic barometer highlights the gap between reality and the perception of unemployment by the French. The latter are poorly aware of their rights to unemployment insurance and the reality of the situation of job seekers, according to an annual barometer published Tuesday, November 26 by Unédic. Barely four out of ten workers are certain of their rights, even though 28% “consider it likely to experience a period of unemployment in the next two years”a percentage up 4 points over one year, according to the survey carried out by Elabe in September among 4,500 French people, including 1,500 job seekers.
Thus 30% say they are sure of being entitled to an allowance and 9% are convinced of the contrary, while the majority are not sure. Nearly nine out of ten French people (87%) overestimate the proportion of job seekers who are compensated by unemployment insurance (40% of the total), and only 6% correctly estimate this proportion, in a range of 35% to 45 %. Only a large third of French people (36%) correctly assess the average amount of unemployment benefit, which is 1,035 euros, choosing a range between 900 and 1,099 euros. The proportion of those who overestimate this amount is 37%, up 2 points compared to 2023.
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At 46%, the French believe a priori that the allowances “are a barrier to returning to employment”. But once informed of the fact that more than one in two job seekers find work before their rights end, only 39% think so. At 47%, they are of the opinion that the duration of rights is “too long”. But after learning that benefits are received on average for ten months, only 38% of them have this opinion. The share of French people (37%) who think that “most unemployed people cheat to receive benefits”only decreases by two points once they are informed that 60% of job seekers are not compensated.
Finally 36% judge that “the unemployed are on welfare”and 32% continue to think this way after being confronted with the reality of the figures, which show that one in two job seekers has a professional activity. Despite these criticisms, six out of ten French people say they are attached to the French model of unemployment insurance. “For three out of four French people, the fact that unemployment benefits exist makes voluntary changes in professional life less risky” (change of company or reconversion to another profession), notes Unédic in a press release.
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