“We are now observing logics close to Uberization”

How is the home help sector formed?

It is very disparate, with companies (35%), associations (35%) – which are losing ground to the benefit of the former –, the public service (15%) and individual employers (15%). In certain departments such as Hauts-de-Seine, where households are wealthier, the share of businesses can rise to 45%; they have a higher rate per hour for their clients.

While in Creuse or Haute-Loire, poorer departments, the associative sector is strong. Others, like Landes or Deux-Sèvres, come under the public sector: 80% of employees come from municipal social action centers. This explains many disparities in salary and working conditions, knowing that in general the situation is better in the public service and associations than in companies or individual employers.

Where do these disparities come from?

For around thirty years, two visions of the world have opposed each other: that serving the elderly, and that serving employment. At the start of the 2000s, the first prevailed: in 2001, the creation of the APA, the Personalized Autonomy Allowance, public assistance, made it possible to finance the expenses of home support for those over 60.

And in 2002, the State Diploma in Social Care Assistant (DEAVS) was created. On the other hand, with the Borloo laws in 2005, the goal is to create employment, with the National Personal Service Agency, encouraging business development. We are now observing logics close to Uberization – the connecting of people via a platform by agents who provide a pay slip and take a commission, while the employer is the elderly or disabled person.

Professionalizing the sector would require money for training and salaries. However, the nation’s budget is in the red. What do you recommend?

It’s a social choice. Are we continuing to do “low-cost” to the detriment of the elderly and disabled and home caregivers, while favoring other sectors? An hour of home help should cost 35 euros if the caregivers were paid correctly; however, the APA sets it at 25 euros. So either we make the user pay, or the State takes its responsibilities.

There is a shortage of 3 to 5 billion euros for this sector. We can find them. Is it a priority for an executive who employs a cleaning lady to have a 50% tax credit? In five years, we could reduce them by 5% per year, which would allow us to recover 3 billion euros. Likewise, is it legitimate for social exemptions on low wages to continue when many reports point out their ineffectiveness? They cost between 70 and 90 billion per year.