Posted Jan 24, 2023 at 4:06pm. Updated January 24, 2023 at 5:26 p.m.
This is one of the government’s arguments to defend its pension reform: it will allow solidarity and social justice measures to be financed. Among them, a device is planned that is intended to encourage the French to make greater use of the solidarity allowance for the elderly (Aspa), i.e. at least old age.
The starting point is that, as with the RSA, the rate of non-use of this social benefit is high: it reaches 50%, which means that only every second person does not apply for it, although they are therefore entitled to the Barometer December 2022 of the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees). On average, this robs you of more than 200 euros in resources every month.
Amounts recovered after death
For the record, you must be over 65 years old and live alone with an income of less than 961.08 euros per month to get the minimum age. The difference between the funds and this cap (which was increased by 0.8% on January 1st) determines the amount received under Aspa. Today, 320,000 people are affected and the sums paid reach 1 billion euros per year, according to the DREES.
Problem: if 62% of French people are aware of this allowance, only 19% of them know fairly well who can benefit from it. Adding to this ignorance is another brake: the concern aroused by the inheritance system.
Why is ? The system provides that amounts paid under the minimum age are reclaimed by the pension fund or the state from their heirs upon the death of the beneficiary. This debt collection will be deducted from the deceased’s estate, precisely from that part of his estate (the net estate assets) that exceeds 39,000 euros. Therefore, only older people with a low income who still have a minimum of assets are addressed. If the inheritance transferred (debts deducted) is too small, the paying body will not get anything back after death.
implications for succession
In order to mitigate the impact on the wealth of beneficiaries of the allowance, the government intends to increase the wealth from which the levy applies. The threshold would thus increase from EUR 39,000 to EUR 100,000. Of course, only the part that exceeds 100,000 euros could be recovered from the pension fund or the state, which should reassure the elderly about their heirs.
“This amount was not previously indexed to an economic magnitude and has not changed since 1982 (250,000 francs),” says the government report. “It will be increased to 100,000 euros from September 1, 2023 and then permanently linked to inflation. »
This incentive comes with a cost. “Assuming a 3-point increase in Aspa use by 2030, under-age spending would increase by 60 million by 2030,” the government calculates. He estimates that raising the threshold at which debt collection is triggered would reduce the amounts collected from inheritances by 50%, equivalent to a 70 million drop in pension fund receipts. Overall, the measure would reduce the pension system balance by 100 million by 2030.