Unemployment 2025: changes, conditions, and amounts
28 May 2025 · 4 min reading time
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See job offersUnemployment in 2025: Key Changes to Unemployment Insurance
Unemployment in 2025 is undergoing significant changes driven by the latest unemployment insurance reform. The stated goal is to encourage a return to employment while adapting the rules to current economic realities. Two key dates mark this year: April 1st, with a series of concrete changes for job seekers, and June 1st, which will introduce stricter control measures. What are the new rules? Who is affected? What should be anticipated? Here's a breakdown of everything you need to know.
What Changed on April 1st, 2025
Since the spring of 2025, the rules of unemployment insurance have been rethought to better address the current challenges of the labor market. These adjustments, which came into effect on April 1st, aim to modernize compensation methods while taking into account the diversity of job seeker profiles. Through these new provisions, the objective is also to promote a return to activity, progressively or sustainably, depending on individual paths.
Monthly Payment for All
Since April 1st, 2025, unemployment benefits are now paid based on a fixed 30-day month, regardless of the specific calendar month. Concretely, this means that job seekers receive the same amount of benefits each month, whether it is February, April, or December.
Before this reform, the calculation of benefits was based on the number of calendar days in the month: longer months (31 days) resulted in slightly higher compensation than shorter months (28 or 30 days). This method generated misunderstanding, income irregularity, and sometimes difficulty in anticipating one's monthly budget.
The objective of this monthly payment system is twofold: to simplify the system for France Travail, but also to offer more clarity and stability to beneficiaries. This new rule applies to both new beneficiaries and those already receiving benefits before April 1st. It is therefore a structural change that concerns all job seekers in 2025.
Specific Rules for Seniors
Since April 1st, 2025, new provisions have been put in place for job seekers aged 55 and over. The aim is to adapt the rules of unemployment insurance to the changing retirement age, while taking into account the particular difficulties faced by seniors in the labor market.
From now on, people aged 55 to 56 can benefit from a maximum compensation period of 22.5 months, or 685 days. For job seekers aged 57 or over, this period is extended to 27 months, or 822 days. For comparison, recipients under 55 remain limited to 18 months, or 548 days. In parallel, the affiliation reference period – that is, the period during which one must have worked to open rights – increases to 36 months for those aged 55 and over, compared to 24 months for others.
Another important change: the degression of unemployment benefits no longer applies to seniors aged 55 and over, even when they receive a daily allowance exceeding €92.12. This system, which provided for a 30% reduction in compensation from the seventh month, remains in effect for younger individuals but is now excluded for senior profiles. Finally, to promote professional retraining, job seekers aged at least 55 can benefit from an extension of their compensation period by 137 days if they undertake training validated by France Travail.
More Flexible Eligibility Conditions
Among the major changes that came into effect on April 1st, 2025, the government decided to ease the conditions for opening unemployment benefit rights. From now on, it is sufficient to have worked 5 months, or 108 days or 758 hours, during the last 24 months to be eligible for unemployment benefits. Before this reform, the minimum required period was 6 months of activity.
This easing aims to broaden access to rights, particularly for precarious workers, seasonal workers, or those whose activity is fragmented. It also allows younger profiles, or people who have experienced periods of professional transition, not to remain without a solution. In parallel, the minimum compensation period has also been revised and now stands at 5 months, or 152 days.
This adjustment is part of a desire to adapt unemployment insurance to new forms of employment. It makes it possible to secure more professional paths, particularly in sectors marked by contractual instability or short assignments.
Return to Employment and Recoverable Rights
The 2025 unemployment reform introduces an important change regarding the recovery of rights in the event of a return to employment followed by resignation. Since April 1st, a job seeker who finds work but voluntarily leaves that position can recover their unemployment benefit rights if they have worked for less than 88 days (approximately 4 months) in that job.
Before this measure, this threshold was set at 65 days, which left less room for people testing a new professional opportunity. The extension to 88 days aims to encourage returns to activity, even short-term ones, without imposing an excessive risk on previous rights. It allows job seekers to try a job without fearing the permanent loss of their unemployment coverage in the event of a bad experience or incompatibility.
This new rule therefore gives more flexibility to those who wish to gradually reintegrate into employment, while securing their professional path.
New Rules for Combining with Self-Employment
Since April 1st, 2025, the combination of the return-to-employment allowance (ARE) with income from self-employment is now limited to 60% of the remaining rights at the date of creation or resumption of the business. In other words, a job seeker creating or taking over a business can combine their business income with the ARE until 60% of their initial rights are consumed.
Once this ceiling is reached, the payment of the ARE ceases. However, if the self-employment continues without generating income (including dividends), the claimant can request an exceptional continuation of compensation from the Regional Joint Body (IPR). This request must be made within six months of reaching the ceiling. The IPR will then analyze the financial situation of the company to decide on a possible resumption of compensation.
Furthermore, to benefit from the second payment of the Aid for the Recovery or Creation of a Business (ARCE), two conditions must be met: the activity must still be ongoing, and the claimant must not hold a full-time permanent contract. In the event of definitive cessation of activity, the claimant can recover the remainder of their rights, after a deferred period calculated based on the number of days compensated by the second payment of the ARCE.
Unemployment: What Changes in June 2025
While the initial measures in April mainly modified the compensation rules, those of June 1st, 2025 focus more on the monitoring and control of job seekers. This second phase of the reform introduces a more accountability-driven logic: France Travail wants to quickly identify people genuinely invested in their job search and better support those struggling to remobilize. The watchword: more flexibility for those who are involved, but also more firmness for those who do not respect their commitments.
Absence from an Appointment No Longer Automatically Leads to Deregistration
Until now, a missed appointment without justification very often resulted in automatic deregistration of the job seeker. As of June 1st, 2025, this approach becomes more nuanced. France Travail now allows for a global assessment of the job seeker's behavior. If the latter has demonstrated a real commitment to their job search, their absence from an interview will no longer be systematically penalized. This change aims to value continuous efforts rather than penalizing an isolated mistake.
Controls Can Be Conducted Without Summons
Another major change: the agents in charge of control can now make a decision without summoning the job seeker, provided that the documents in the file are deemed sufficiently clear. This does not mean the abandonment of dialogue, but rather a desire to make procedures more reactive. For job seekers, this implies being rigorous in administrative follow-up and keeping their supporting documents up to date, as a decision may be taken without a prior interview.
A New Temporary Sanction: Suspension-Remobilization
June 1st, 2025 also marks the introduction of a new type of progressive sanction. In the event of a breach, such as an unjustified absence or a failure to update one's situation, France Travail will now be able to apply a temporary reduction in unemployment benefits. This system, called "suspension-remobilization," makes it possible to reduce the amount of compensation without completely eliminating it. If the job seeker actively resumes their efforts and provides proof of job search, the sanction can be lifted quickly. The idea is to hold individuals accountable without excluding them, by promoting a dynamic return to job searching.
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