Emmanuel Macron president of the rich, new episode. The label that sticks to the skin of the President of the Republic since 2017 is not about to come off with the publication, Tuesday, November 16, of a study by the Institute of Public Policies (IPP) showing that the 1% the richest have benefited from the largest increase in purchasing power. They thus obtained an average gain of 2.8% on all their income after taxes and benefits. And the progression is even more striking among the wealthiest 0.1% who have seen their purchasing power jump by around 4%. Conversely, the poorest 5% of households lost 0.5% of purchasing power on average.

"The richest are the big winners because some reforms implemented during Emmanuel Macron's five-year term targeted them particularly," said Chloé Lallemand, economist at the IPP, co-author of the study, contacted by France 24. " This is particularly the case with the transformation of the ISF (wealth tax) into IFI (tax on real estate wealth) or the implementation of the PFU (single flat-rate deduction) on capital income. the most modest households have clearly suffered from the increase in taxes on energy and tobacco, which weigh more in proportion to their income, "she said.

Total effects on the standard of living of the measures taken during the Macron five-year term © Institute of Public Policies

The PPI notes, however, that with the exception of the poorest, all households have seen their standard of living increase.

The overall average increase for all French people over the past five years is around 1.6%.

Effects of the measures of the five-year Macron on the standard of living of the richest 1% of households.

© Institute for Public Policy

Less than five months before the presidential election, this study falls badly for Emmanuel Macron, whose five years at the Elysee were notably marked by the yellow vests crisis.

The question of purchasing power is indeed at the top of the concerns of the French: 41% of quotes among three possible answers, far ahead of security (31%) or immigration (27%), according to a recent Elabe poll for BFMTV .

Above all, it contradicts the government's communication which repeated over and over again, a month and a half ago, that its policy had mainly benefited the poorest.

A study by the Treasury Department at the Ministry of the Economy, published on October 4, affirmed that the standard of living of the 10% of the poorest households had increased by 4%.

A more detailed analysis than that of the government

How to explain such a difference?

"We did not apply the same calculation method", explains Chloé Lallemand.

"Unlike the Treasury study, we did not take into account the measures voted during the previous five-year period but entered into force in 2018, such as the generalization of the energy check or the revaluation of the RSA. We only took into account measures voted since the election of Emmanuel Macron. "

The PPI study also analyzes the different households in more detail.

"The Treasury had divided the population into deciles (in ten equal groups), which has the effect of aggregating more people and raising the averages, while we did it in percentiles (in one hundred equal groups) to obtain more nuanced results ", continues the economist.

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The Institute of Public Policy also did not use the same behavioral assumptions regarding energy taxation and tobacco taxation, assuming that the population would not reduce consumption as much as expected by the government due to the increase in prices. price.

Effects of the Macron five-year measures on the standard of living of working households.

© Institute for Public Policy

On the other hand, the two studies agree in underlining that the fact of working or not was crucial in the evolution of the standard of living of the households during the quinquennium, and it was moreover the priority declared by the government. since 2017.

The effects of measures such as the switching of social security contributions-CSG or the abolition of the housing tax "are overall very positive on active households", with an increase in the standard of living of 3.5% on average, while 'they are "generally quite limited" among retirees, who have suffered in particular from the rise in the CSG, details Chloé Lallemand.

Effects of the Macron five-year measures on the standard of living of retired households.

© Institute for Public Policy

In addition, the measures taken by the government generate increases in living standards which, on the whole, are all the more important as household income is high.

In fact, if we look at the amounts in euros represented by these increases, the richest 1% earned on average 3,500 euros per year thanks to the measures taken between 2017 and 2022, against less than 1,000 euros per year. year for the lowest percentile and 0 euro for the poorest.

Effects of the measures of the five-year Macron on the standard of living in amounts in euros.

© Institute for Public Policy

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