from Belgium to Germany via the United Kingdom, which are the most generous European countries?

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal put on the table, Wednesday evening, a new reform of unemployment insurance in France with a reduction in the duration of compensation for the unemployed.

While Gabriel Attal expressed, on Wednesday March 27, his desire to reduce the duration of unemployment compensation in France, franceinfo takes stock of the duration and amount of unemployment insurance in neighboring countries.

In the United Kingdom, six months’ compensation

The most stingy country in terms of compensation is the United Kingdom. Across the Channel, the duration of compensation is only six months. The amount of compensation does not take into account the unemployed person’s previous salary and is set at 400 euros per month for everyone, as long as they are over 25 years old. For those under 25, the amount is even lower at 320 euros per month. Ireland has almost the same, but with a more generous variation than in the United Kingdom.

Degressive compensation in Belgium

In Germany, the duration of compensation varies depending on age, with a maximum of one year for those under 50. For those over 50, it will be a little more, with 15 months maximum. Then, at 55 years old it will be a maximum of one and a half years (18 months) and for those over 58, a maximum of two years (24 months). In general, unemployed Germans receive between 60 and 67% of their previous salary.

In Belgium, the system appears relatively generous. On paper, the duration of compensation is unlimited. But there are restrictions related to the amount of compensation. Unemployment benefits are rapidly decreasing. Beneficiaries are first compensated at two-thirds of their previous salary, but only for the first three months. Then, the compensation decreases in several phases and after four years, there is a lump sum allowance which can be, effectively, unlimited.

In Denmark, 90% of the reference salary

In the family of countries that can appear generous, Denmark offers two years of maximum compensation and above all an allowance set at 90% of the reference salary. But be careful: the maximum amount of compensation is limited to 2,500 euros. In France, the ceiling is 8,300 euros.

In Italy, the duration of compensation depends on the duration of contributions over the last four years. If you have contributed for two years out of the last four years, it will be half, or one year of compensation. If you have contributed six months over the last four years, it will be three months. For the amount of the allowance, it will be 75% of the previous salary, with a decreasing system from the sixth month and a maximum amount of 1,500 euros.