Presented as a major social turning point, the decisions made in 2025 by the Algerian authorities enshrine a strengthened welfare state, although its economic sustainability and real impact on purchasing power continue to raise questions.
According to official discourse, the year 2025 will have been marked by “historic decisions” enshrining the social character of the Algerian state. Under the leadership of President Abdelmadjid
Tebboune, the government has implemented numerous measures to benefit low-income earners and so-called vulnerable groups, in a political sequence characterised by social justice and the dignity of the citizen, frequently invoked by the authorities.
Among the key announcements is the increase in the guaranteed national minimum wage, raised from 20,000 to 24,000 dinars. This measure is presented as a strong signal to low-income workers, but its effect remains tempered by persistent inflation and a continued erosion of purchasing power.
Similarly, unemployment benefits were raised to 18,000 dinars, an adjustment intended to alleviate the precarious situation of unemployed youth, without, however, addressing the structural causes
of unemployment.
Retirees also benefited from differentiated increases, with a 10 percent rise for the lowest pensions and 5% for the others.
While these decisions reflect a genuine budgetary effort, they struggle to mask the growing fragility of a pension system under demographic and financial strain.
On the social front, the extension of maternity leave, to five months,with expanded provisions in cases of disability or serious illness of the newborn, was hailed as a step forward for women’s rights.
Here again, this reform is more about remediation than a comprehensive overhaul of policies concerning women’s employment and gender equality in the workplace.
In education, the mass integration of over 140,000 contract teachers and the lowering of the retirement age were presented as a recognition of the central role of the teaching profession.
However, these measures are a response to tensions that have been building for years, marked by precarious employmentcontracts and repeated protests.
Other decisions, such as the increase in the tourist allowance, the rise in student grants, and the provision of care for cancer patientswithout social security coverage, complete this picture of an
omnipresent welfare state.
But behind the scale of these announcements, one question remains central: the financial sustainability of this model, largely based on rent-seeking and poorly accompanied by structural economic reforms.
MK/Sf/fss/as/APA