The French System of Direct and Indirect Family Transfers and the Principles of Justice Ai-Thu Dang and Jean-Marie Monnier In Gosta Esping-Andersen’s paradigmatic analysis of welfare capitalism (1990), the French welfare state is classified in the conservative corporatist regime. 1 France is gener- ally recognized as belonging to the Bismarckian family of welfare states because of the centrality of social insurance. In fact, most of benefits are earnings related and entitle- ment is conditional upon a contribution record. Social security contributions are paid by both employers and employees. However, in France, there is also a non-contributory element, a Beveridgean com- ponent. It refers to the tax-financed system and includes social assistance programs, minimum incomes and programs aimed at vocational training, and at integrating the young or long-term unemployed. These programs benefit those who do not have access to the social insurance system, such as the long-term unemployed or the young unem- ployed who have not contributed enough or have only a very short contribution period. Since the late 1970s, several kinds of minimum incomes or social minima have been set up to compensate for the failures of the Bismarckian sector (the social insurance sys- tem). There are at least eight different minimum incomes: minimum income for old people over sixty-five years, allowance for disabled adults, integration allowance, specific solidarity allowance, lone parent allowance, minimum income for disabled people (for those who have small invalidity insurance benefits), widowhood allowance, and mini- 683 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ISSUES Vol. XXXVIII No. 3 September 2004 Ai-Thu Dang is Associate Professor of Economics, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, France, and Jean-Marie Monnier is Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute of Social Sciences and Labor, University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. Both of them belong to the Unity of Research Matisse (UMR 8595 CNRS)—University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. This paper has received financial support from the CNAF (French National Family Benefits Fund). However, the authors assume total responsibility for its contents. Jei © 2004, Journal of Economic Issues