Purchasing power: minimum wage employees demand a larger increase
While the government is considering an anticipated increase in the minimum wage from next month, minimum wage workers are struggling to make ends meet. Faced with the increase in the cost of living, some are calling…
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This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the report above. Click on the video to watch it in full. Léo is a seller of small household appliances.
At 21, he was paid the minimum wage. If the amount is increased to match inflation, i.e. 15 euros net per month, he is not sure of seeing the difference, he confides: "It is not going to save our month either. That is to say that 15 euros, we can buy a day or two of shopping.
Over the year, that represents an amount, that's for sure. But it's still not enough for us to survive. "An anticipated increase from next month planned by the government, insufficient for another employee we met: "We should also support it in blocking the prices of everything that is a basic necessity, and in particular for gasoline also for people who need their car to work.
"In 2026, the minimum wage has been increased twice, today 9.74 euros per hour and a little more than 1,477 euros net per month. Three nursing assistant students will soon enter the job market, with probably their first years at the minimum wage. Héléna Baveczo, nursing assistant student, wonders: "With the cost of fuel today, you have to count in the month, that means between 250 maximum to put fuel.
If I take all that away, I ask myself the questions, how do I actually manage to last the full month? "A divisive increase in the minimum wageThe minimum wage, one of the thorny issues at the heart of the current social movement. Some unions are even demanding an increase of at least 100 euros net per month.
Éric Chevée, vice-president of the CPME in charge of social affairs, assures us that the bosses do not have the means: "A net increase of 100 euros for a minimum wage level must be close to 300 or 400 euros gross for the employer. So it is to actually show the difference. We remain an extremely expensive country in terms of labor costs.
Going further today means taking major risks on the good performance of the French economy. “In France, more than 2 million employees receive the minimum wage.
Machine-translated from French
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- Franceinfo26 Oct, 14:52
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