Paris (AFP)

"We manage two lives: it's exhausting, we never seem to be doing enough": for the carers it is not always easy to reconcile support of a loved one and employment. From 2020, some will be able to claim a compensated leave, a "small advance" for associations.

For the last three years, Emilie, 40, has been going every two weeks between Paris and Perpignan to take care of her injured father.

"It was an absolute violence, overnight, a bicycle accident and he is quadriplegic," said AFP this framework in communication. "He was dynamic, playing sports, cooking and now he can not do anything anymore, he only has two daughters and a house."

Administrative, medical appointments, housekeeping, laundry, shopping, banking, home helpers and nurses who succeed at her bedside ... Emilie now manages "two lives to 1,000 kilometers one from the other".

According to official figures, 8.3 million people in France regularly help a loved one with a loss of autonomy. Nearly one in two is salaried, that is about four million people.

In order to be absent, the forty-year-old first laid off "but I was quickly negative", continues Emilie, who excludes from settling in the South where her "life would only turn around him." ".

"My boss has been conciliatory and we manage thanks to teleworking, I'm no less efficient but I'm exhausted to hold the bar and my work does not feel like it." On one side or the other I feel like I never do enough, "she says.

For these employees, the budget "Safely", unveiled Monday, plans to test from October 2020, and for two years, the compensation of the nearby leave helping up to 43.52 euros per day for one person as a couple, 52 for a single person, the same scale as for parental leave (which allows to accompany a sick child) and support of a loved one at the end of life.

- "legitimate help" -

Created in 2016, it allows caregivers of an elderly relative, recognized at the degree of dependency GIR 1 to 3, or disabled with a permanent disability rate of 80% or more, to reduce or interrupt their activity.

The compensation may be paid for three months, divided, for the entire career, and will open rights to retirement, which "represents an investment of more than 100 million euros per year in a full year", according to the press kit of the Social Security financing bill.

"It's a small step forward," reacts with AFP Florence Leduc, president of the French Association of carers.

"It was unthinkable that there was a leave but not paid, that's why it was not taken," she says. "It's taboo but we know that when we have no choice, it ends up sick."

"The caregivers are not asking to leave the company, but solutions that allow them to reconcile help to work, and to be absent if necessary," explains the sociologist Thierry Calvat, pointing out that the work "is a powerful vector of identity, protector".

For the co-founder of the "vulnerabilities and society" circle, himself helping an elderly family member, "this leave is a signal that is probably important politically to take into account the caregiver situation, but it also shows the need for businesses to adapt to life situations ".

Nevertheless, "for the same amount, could not we rather develop more solutions for external help?", He wondered.

Because this leave "should not be the tree that hides the forest," warn in a joint statement the National Association of carers and the national federation Adessadomicile.

For these two structures, this "legitimate help" should not make us forget that "the role of caregivers is complementary to that of professional carers and can not be a substitute for carers".

© 2019 AFP