We generalize the classical MacDonald formula for smooth curves to reduced curves with planar singularities. More precisely, we show that the cohomologies of the Hilbert schemes of points on a such a curve are encoded in the cohomologies of the fine compactified Jacobians of its connected subcurves, via the perverse Leray filtration. A crucial step in the proof is the case of nodal curves, where everything reduces to some combinatorial identities on the underlying dual graph. This is a joint work with Luca Migliorini and Vivek Schende.