The first round of the presidential election will take place on April 10, and according to an Ifop* poll published last Friday, the participation of 18-24 year olds could be only 58%.
However, the candidates all have measures aimed at young people in their program.
Autonomous income, stock market reform, tax measures…
20 Minutes
has sifted through the ideas of the contenders for the Elysée.
While in the 1st round of 2017, the participation of 18-24 year olds was 68%, on April 10, it could only be 58%, according to an Ifop poll* published on Friday.
However, the contenders for the Elysée have measures in their pocket aimed at young people.
And
20 Minutes
decided to compare those relating to financial aid.
Because the subject is currently particularly sensitive: “during presidential campaigns, left-wing parties always make social proposals aimed at young people, analyzes Tom Chevalier, CNRS researcher and specialist in public youth policies.
The novelty for 2022 is that the right-wing parties are also positioning themselves.
This is explained by the Covid-19 crisis, which has made visible the economic difficulties of young people”.
Ensuring an income for young people, a well-shared idea
The simplest idea in this area is to open the RSA (565 euros per month) to those under 25 years old.
A measure defended by Jean Lassalle (Résistions!) and Fabien Roussel (PCF).
But most candidates prefer to offer their own autonomy income to 18-25 year olds.
For Anne Hidalgo (PS), it will be a youth minimum of 564 euros per month, open subject to means testing.
“This right will be accompanied by guaranteed support towards employment, qualification and autonomy”, she specifies in her programme.
The "citizen income" of Yannick Jadot (EELV) will amount to 918 euros monthly, and the
“guarantee of autonomy” by Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI) at 1,063 euros.
But it will only be allocated “to any young person who studies and is detached from the parental tax home”.
In addition to its proposal on the young RSA,
Fabien Roussel makes another for students: an income of 850 euros per month, allocated without conditions of resources.
"It can be adjusted upwards for young people from the most modest backgrounds," he explains in his program.
Some candidates do not wish to grant guaranteed income for young people.
Like Emmanuel Macron, who justified his choice during the presentation of his program in March: "I did not want to do the RSA for 18-25 year olds and I assume it completely, because I considers that it is in a way satisfying us with the idea that we would deal with poverty or precariousness only through monetary benefits.
“Instead, he wishes to continue the development of the youth engagement contract, which came into force in March 2022 and which allows dropouts under the age of 26 to reintegrate by benefiting from a training and integration course, but also financial assistance.
Valérie Pécresse proposes a similar measure - called "young active income" -, of 670 euros per month, for young dropouts or unemployed who will be trained in jobs in tension.
As for Nicolas Dupont-Aignan (Debout la France), he wants to create “a universal employment contract” for young people.
“Contrary to the universal income without compensation, the universal work contract will offer a part-time activity of general interest in the service of the communities against a reintegration allowance”, he explains in his program.
Differences that underline political divisions: “Left-wing candidates lean towards income support for all young people, while those on the right want to condition it.
This reflects the left's adherence to the welfare state and the right's distrust of it, which always evokes the idea of welfare, ”comments Tom Chevalier.
Reform student grants
Long promised by the executive, the scholarship reform has not taken place under this five-year term.
If she came to power, Nathalie Arthaud (LO) would like to increase the amount and open them to more students.
For the candidates marked on the right, we want more that the scholarships are correlated with the university results.
Hence Valérie Pécresse's idea of “recreating genuine merit scholarships for students from the middle and working classes”.
Or that of Nicolas Dupont-Aignan to "multiply scholarships on competition for young people from modest backgrounds, replacing them with scholarships based on simple social criteria".
When Eric Zemmour proposes "to facilitate social and merit scholarships for middle-class students and to abolish those for absentee students".
“If the subject of scholarships is ultimately little explored by the candidates, it is because the issue is more complex.
If they propose a reform of the system, there are bound to be winners and losers.
It is therefore easier electorally – for right-wing candidates, for example – to talk about merit scholarships, which refer to their elitist vision of higher education,” comments the researcher.
Playing on taxation to help young people
Marine Le Pen is the candidate who makes the most proposals in this area, wanting to "exempt from income tax all young workers up to the age of 30, so that they stay in France and start their families here". , she says in her program.
She also wants to "remove corporate tax for entrepreneurs under 30 for the first five years, to prevent them from going abroad".
And like several candidates, she wants to exempt donations from parents, but also from grandparents to their children and grandchildren up to 100,000 euros per child every ten years, when Valérie Pécresse wants this to be possible every six years .
Eric Zemmour would like us to be able to go up to 200,000 euros every ten years.
“The tax cut is a very classic theme on the right.
But the novelty of 2022 is that it is available for youth.
And the proposals on donations show, on the part of the candidates, the desire to reproduce inequalities, ”insists Tom Chevalier.
Specific financial aid
Candidates also want to stand out with original measures.
Like Valérie Pécresse and her idea of a “youth bank”, which would grant them loans guaranteed by the State “to finance their studies or create their business”.
According to her, this bank would be that of the “right to fail”.
“You embark on studies, if it does not work, it is the State which guarantees”, she added.
In the same spirit, Jean Lassalle wants to grant students a loan of 20,000 euros at zero interest, guaranteed by the State.
Another original idea: that of Anne Hidalgo, who wants to pay "a capital endowment of 5,000 euros to each young person aged 18, to enable him to finance his professional and personal projects".
For example: a driving licence, a training project, mobility... As for Yannick Jadot, he stands out with his proposal for a "climate freedom pass" for 16-25 year olds, which would give "unlimited access to all trains, public transport and self-service bicycles”, for a subscription of 50 to 100 euros per month.
“Certainly, these original measures seek to capture the attention of voters.
But not so much young people as their parents or grandparents.
Because the electoral weight of 18-25 year olds is lower than that of their elders;
they do not vote a lot and in a volatile way”, underlines Tom Chevalier.
And according to him, this is not about to change: “The drop in the electoral participation of young people is a long-term trend.
Not only because there is a gap between the political offer and the aspirations of young people.
And because their conception of citizenship goes beyond participatory democracy.
It is based above all on commitment to associations, the fight against discrimination and in favor of ecology,” he continues.
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Economy
Coronavirus: What solutions would be effective in fighting poverty among 18-25 year olds?
* The survey was conducted with a sample of 1,499 people, representative of the French population aged 18 to 25.
The interviews were carried out by self-administered online questionnaire from March 10 to 16, 2022.
Youth
Candidate
Presidential election 2022
Youth
Presidential Program 2022
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