Lower general contributions
Target levies that most penalise hiring and take-home pay.
Competitiveness · scenario
Bringing gross and net pay closer
Reduce the labour tax wedge so take-home pay rises without an equivalent increase in employer cost.
The key metric: the labour tax wedge
The labour tax wedge is the gap between total employer labour cost and the employee’s take-home position after taxes, social contributions and cash benefits counted by the OECD. It reached 47.2% for an average single worker in France in 2025 versus an OECD average of 35.1%.
How to narrow the gross-to-net gap
Close subsidy windows
Convert part of business support into lower general rates.
Fund transparently
Every cut must identify the spending cut or replacement resource.
Publish the full chain
Employer cost, gross, pre-tax net and post-tax net.
A contribution may finance a right
Pensions, healthcare, unemployment, family and work-accident protection must be handled separately. Contribution cuts must not silently create unfunded rights.