France plans to cut the amount of time unemployed people can receive benefits

French Prime Minister Attard said his government plans to shorten the period during which people can claim unemployment benefits to boost their incentive to work.

In an interview published on Sunday, Attar told the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper that the maximum period for receiving unemployment benefits would be reduced to 15 months from the current 18 months.

The government also plans to require recipients to have worked for eight months in the past 20 months to qualify for unemployment benefits. The current requirement is to have worked for six months within the last 24 months.

"If we don't reform unemployment insurance, we risk stalling on our path to full employment," Attar said. This reform can create more jobs for the country."

The 2023 reform allows the benefit duration to vary depending on labor market conditions, with the idea that if jobs are plentiful, the benefit duration should be shorter. But the government, struggling to keep its deficit-reduction programme on track, says this is not enough.

Atal said the government planned to implement the reforms by decree, rather than submitting them to parliament, and that they would take effect in December.