The yellow vests coordination is calling for new gatherings on Saturday, 14 November, despite the announcement the previous Monday of a 0.6% boost to the minimum wage. For those interviewed, the rise to nearly 1,502 euros net neither makes up for the lag in prices nor the feeling of working without prospects.
The minimum wage will rise, from 1 December, to nearly 1,502 euros net per month. The government has chosen a 1.6% increase, or about 24 euros net more per month. For employees already on the minimum wage, this rise does not change a daily life made up of privation, calculations and downward social mobility.
The measure combines a 0.6% boost and the automatic 1% increase linked to inflation. It comes as energy prices have remained high since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022. Housing assistance and the activity bonus are not enough, according to accounts gathered by franceinfo, to offset this rise.
The issue goes beyond the payslip alone. A study by the National Observatory of Poverty and Social Exclusion, updated in 2022, estimates that a single person would need 1.2 times the minimum wage, a childless couple 1.6 times, and a couple with two children about 2.8 times, to live with dignity.
Full-time employees paid the minimum wage sit slightly above the poverty line, set at 1,337 euros. That margin does not guarantee a manageable month. Below an income considered decent, daily life often comes down to difficult choices, frustrations and hardship.
Arnaud’s budget is already used up before the end of the month: 730 euros in rent, 600 euros for two cars and fuel for the commute, some 800 euros for food and bills. “If we manage to scrape together 50 euros a month, that lets us plan for hard knocks, replacing the fridge or the timing belt,” he explains. By his calculations, two full days of work go solely to paying for the fuel to get to work.