French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that a social assistance program has been established for unemployed young people which will offer them a monthly allowance of 500 euros (US$579) linked to training.

The program will be open to all jobless people under 26 years old from March 1, 2022 as part of a new scheme to boost youth employment.

Macron launched the youth engagement contract on Facebook to provide a “new impetus to the confinement generation.” The program is targeted at young people adversely affected by the COVID-19 health crisis who lost fruitful opportunities in finding a job or internship during the lockdown.

It is a continuation of the “1 young 1 solution” platform launched in July wherein 3 million young people found training, an internship or a job, said Macron.

The employment contract complements and simplifies several measures aimed at young people in order to better train and support them in the world of work, he said.

Under the program, all young people under 26 who have no special skill sets or employment can get 500 euros per month for training or to find work of their interest. It will help them gain “15 to 20 hours of support per week to discover a profession, to train, to find an apprenticeship or a job.”

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), the unemployment rate since 2019 has been around 8%. The job market is likely to see some improvement by the year end with the availability of around 500,000 new salaried jobs. However, the unemployment figures by Macron’s own admissions are “too high.”

The announcement to woo the young population with a work stimulus program comes six months ahead of presidential polls due in April 2022. The financial benefits will start rolling out two months before the voting.

Apart from rising unemployment and the slow pace of the French economy, Macron’s government has been rocked by several controversies and outrage from the general public since his newly launched En Marche party came to power in 2017.

These include nationwide demonstrations of the yellow jackets (gilet jaunes) movement to oppose a fuel tax which spiraled into violent riots, protests against a global security law impacting privacy and mass surveillance, a controversial radicalization bill targeting the Muslim population, criticisms against the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and most recently opposition to a compulsory health pass and vaccine obligations.