Increase in the minimum wage, end of the health emergency, increase in the rate of leaflet A… What will change from August 1st

In the middle of the summer holidays, many changes can be expected from Monday, August 1st. These included several economic measures to deal with inflation, which rose further in July and reached 6.1% over a year in France, according to the latest INSEE figures released on Friday. Franceinfo lists the news to be expected from Monday.

The 2.01% increase in the minimum wage

Due to high inflation, the minimum wage (minimum interprofessional growth wage) will be automatically increased by 2.01% effective August 1st. With full-time employment, the monthly minimum wage increases from EUR 1,302.64 to EUR 1,329.06 net. The hourly minimum wage changes from 8.58 euros to 8.76 euros. This is the fourth increase in the minimum wage in less than a year, the most recent being on May 1 with a 2.65% increase.

In addition to its annual reassessment on January 1st, the minimum wage is automatically increased during the year by the amount of inflation (calculated for the 20% of households with the lowest incomes) if it exceeds 2% compared to the last increase.

The increase in the savings account A rate

The livret A rate, the most widespread savings product in France, reached 2% from August 1, returning to its highest level since 2012. This is the second hike this year, after a first doubling of the rate from 0.5% – a historic low – to 1% on February 1st.

The doubling of the interest rate proposed by the governor of the Banque de France on July 14th and immediately accepted by the government can be explained by the rise in prices observed in recent months.

Another notable increase: that of the People’s Savings Book (LEP), reserved for people with modest incomes (maximum 20,296 euros per year for a single person), which goes from 2.2% to 4.6%. We have to go back to 1998 to have a comparable rate (4.5%).

The end of the health emergency

After more than two years of pandemic, the public health emergency, an exceptional legal framework decreed in the face of the crisis, ends on August 1st after Parliament approved the bill on July 26th.

Only two measures remain on the agenda: continuous surveillance of the pandemic, making it possible to know the number of cases or hospitalizations, and the possibility of imposing a negative test on travelers leaving or returning to France or overseas.

>> Covid-19: health card, mask, tests… Our answers to your questions about the new rules in force from August 1st

The measures to restrict daily life provided for by the emergency regulations, including the rightthe application of exit restrictions and the curfew can no longer be reintroduced.

The dissolution of the Scientific Council, making way for a committee

He accompanied the French for more than two years to follow the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Scientific Council will be dissolved as of Sunday, July 31, corresponding to the end date of the health emergency regime.

After the end of July a committee to monitor and anticipate health risks must take over. This committee, which will no longer be chaired by Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, will be made up of experts in human and animal health and the environment.

This new committee will be set up in the coming days, Health Minister François Braun said on franceinfo on Wednesday. It will consist of 19 members, some of whom could come from the Science Council, we learn in a decree published on Sunday. This committee, responsible for monitoring “Health risks from human and animal infectious agents, environmental and food contaminants and climate change”should in particular “Make recommendations when extrapolation reveals a health risk”. Its missions will therefore go beyond Covid-19 “Given the risk of the emergence of other viruses”emphasized François Braun.

Triple the “Macron Bonus”

The upper limit of the purchasing power bonus increases from 2,000 to 6,000 euros net for companies that have concluded a profit-sharing agreement or have fewer than 50 employees.

Established in 2019 in the context of the “yellow vest” crisis, this tax-free “Macron bonus” can be paid by employers between August 1 and December 31, 2023. In trust, the premium may be permanent in the form of a ‘value-sharing premium’ exempt from social security contributions.

Payment of increased social benefits

When examining the Purchasing Power Act, the National Assembly voted to upgrade several social benefits such as the Disability Allowance (AAH), the Active Solidarity Income (RSA) or the 4% Family Allowance. This increase has been in effect since July 1, 2022. After social assistance for the month of July has already been paid out, the beneficiaries will receive this increase from August.

The extension of the “tank discount”

It was supposed to be over in July. The “fuel rebate” of 15 cents per liter without tax, which has been in effect since April 1, was extended until August 31 by the National Assembly during the examination of the amending finance law.

La measure to be determined by regulation then increases from 18 to 30 Euro cents in September and October, then to 10 cents in November and December.

The 3.5% increase in the index point for civil servants

The approximately 5.7 million civil servants will also have a nice surprise on their payslips for the month of August. The index point for civil servants, frozen since 2017, will increase by 3.5% from August 1 retrospectively to July 1.

Given the unprecedented level of inflation, we have taken an extraordinary measure: the general increase in the index point of the #Public service by 3.5%.

This is the biggest increase in 37 years! pic.twitter.com/4ihuzzoqM1

— Stanislas Guerini (@StanGuerini) June 28, 2022

According to the website service-public.fr, this is the biggest increase in 37 years. This increase was one of the measures included in the Purchasing Power Emergency Law passed in the first reading by the National Assembly on July 22.

Payment of the back-to-school allowance

Families with at least one school-age child between the ages of 6 and 18 are also paid the school start grant (ARS) at the end of August, depending on their needs. It is part of the benefits, which under the “purchasing power” calculation must increase by 4% to cope with inflation.

For the beginning of the 2022 school year, the amount is EUR 376.98 per child aged 6 to 10; 397.78 euros per child from 11 to 14 years and 411.56 euros per child from 15 to 18 years.