Have you ever pulled your hair out trying to complete an administrative procedure online? Rest assured, you are far from alone in this case. According to an INSEE study published on Wednesday, a third of French people have already given up at least once on carrying out an online process over the last twelve months. If three-quarters of them were able to complete the procedure in question by another means (by telephone, on site, etc.), “a quarter, i.e. 8% of the total population, have given up definitively“, indicates the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.
Internet connection and complexity of procedures
There are many reasons why the French gave up. In the first place, 30.2% cite a problem related to their internet connection. Just behind, 29.1% of those questioned explained that it was the complexity of the approach that was an obstacle. Finally, 25.7% of people in difficulty with online procedures say they are unable to carry them out, which has deterred them from trying. If women are more likely than men to give up online administrative procedures (54.9% against 45.1%), they “also find other ways of carrying out these procedures more often and give up definitively less often”, comments INSEE.
Another finding of the study, the financial situation of respondents influences their ability to carry out online procedures. Thereby, “11% of the population is in a situation of material and social deprivation, but this is the case for 18% of people who declared difficulties in their administrative procedures“.”Young people aged 18 to 29 are also overrepresented among people who have encountered difficulties: they represent 20% of them, whereas they are only 16% of the population.“, adds INSEE.
Slow progress in online procedures among the over 75s
Despite the brakes detailed by the statistical institute, “the dematerialization of procedures has greatly developed over the past ten years“. Two thirds of adults residing in mainland France (67%) said in 2021 that they had carried out at least one administrative procedure online over the previous twelve months, a percentage doubled in ten years (33% in 2011). Since 2011, the Appropriation of digital procedures has clearly progressed in all age groups, but remains low among those over 75: only 26.6% of them said, in the spring of 2021, having carried out an online procedure over the year elapsed.
The study is largely based on the Insee “Information and Communication Technologies” survey, conducted between March 29 and June 17, 2021 among 40,000 French households in mainland France and overseas.