Redefining Unemployment and Employment Statuses: The Impact of Activation on Social Citizenship in France

Abstract

This chapter examines the impact of recent French activation policies¹ on social citizenship, that is, on the whole set of social rights and duties attached either to the individual citizen and/or to employment, as well as to the family. France is usually referred to as a Bismarckian welfare regime, where entitlements to social rights initially rely on both the employment and the family status as opposed to universal welfare regimes, where entitlements are attached to citizenship. However, recent shifts in activation policies tend to turn traditional Bismarckian welfare and income support schemes into ‘active welfare’, promoting‘active citizenship’ through conditional entitlements that increasingly rely on contracts rather than on employment or family statuses. These changes not only contradict traditional Bismarckian entitlement principles but also challenge the social status and entitlements of non-employed² citizens.