Elisabeth Borne wants to remove obstacles to employment, such as childcare

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: XOSE BOUZAS / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 22:49 p.m., May 31, 2023

Elisabeth Borne travels Thursday to Angers and Laval to discuss the obstacles to employment, such as childcare, for which she should detail the financing of the 200,000 new places in nursery envisaged by 2030, despite the shortage of staff in this sector. The Prime Minister anticipates the presentation to the Council of Ministers next week of the bill reorganizing the public employment service.

An "additional financial contribution" of 5.5 billion cumulated over 2023-2027

Childcare "is one of the most important obstacles, along with mobility, to access to employment. When a child arrives in a couple, it is often the woman who is led to withdraw from the labor market, "said Elisabeth Borne in an interview with Ouest-France posted online Wednesday evening. In Angers, with the Minister of Solidarity Jean-Christophe Combe and the Secretary of State for Children, Charlotte Caubel, she will visit a nursery labeled Avip (with a vocation of professional integration), which allows people looking for work to have priority in the allocation of places and to benefit from a structure with a wide time slot.

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It will then close a CNR (National Council of Refoundation, editor's note) dedicated to early childhood where it should detail the funding of 100,000 additional places in nurseries by 2027, with the objective of reaching 200,000 new places by 2030. Young children currently have 458,000 places in crèches, and 770,000 with childminders. These new places will benefit from an "additional financial contribution" of 5.5 billion cumulated over 2023-2027, according to Matignon. Municipalities with more than 3,500 inhabitants will also become "organising authorities" for childcare, with the task of identifying needs, informing families and building the offer. This provision will be included in the Employment Bill.

Preventing abuse

After an alarming report by the Igas (General Inspectorate of Social Affairs) published in April, which called for deep reforms of the sector to better prevent abuse, the Prime Minister will also discuss measures likely to improve the quality of reception, such as a system of "reporting and follow-up", or more controls. Approvals for nurseries will thus be "limited to ten years, with a systematic appointment halfway through," explains Elisabeth Borne.

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In addition to crèches, an "Innovation Fund" of 70 million euros will develop "adapted" childcare methods for people in difficulty, and the government will "increase the aid of CAF (family allowances fund) for the employment of a childminder so that this solution does not cost more than a crèche". The government estimates that 49% of nurseries lack professionals. It will therefore also be a question of the means to remedy the lack of attractiveness of these professions, "aggravating factor as much as symptom" of the difficulties to welcome children, according to Igas.

In Laval, with the Minister of Labour Olivier Dussopt, Elisabeth Borne will defend the bill to set up "France Work" which must succeed "Pôle Emploi" to better coordinate the various actors of employment. On this occasion, she will participate in a "job dating" with several companies facing recruitment difficulties and will sign a "protocol" State-region to "push the cursor a little further" in local employment governance.