Beneficiaries of Secours Populaire at their wit’s end

The association’s annual barometer on poverty, published on Thursday, highlights growing precariousness.

Precariousness is increasing in France, this is the warning issued by the Secours populaire in its annual barometer published on Thursday, September 12. In this study, the French now say they are poor when they earn almost as much as the minimum wage, to within 2 euros, and two thirds of them say they know or have known a situation of poverty. For some, the help of the Secours populaire is essential, as in front of one of the association’s branches in the 12^e district of Marseille.

In the queue to pick up a food parcel, Anna, 35, comes for the first time. Since her husband fell ill and can no longer work, her family has not been getting by. “Life is very expensive. With inflation and everything… Everything is expensive, she confides. With five children, imagine. So thank goodness they are here.”she said about Secours populaire.

Next to her, Nakara, a home help and mother of three children, also thanks Secours populaire. “Even when I work, I can’t do it, she said. I can’t afford it. It’s very hard for a single woman. There’s nothing in the fridge in the morning. My daughter doesn’t have breakfast.”No breakfast, no football or karate for her children this year, she had to unregister them.

Further on, Enrique, an 80-year-old retired plumber, is loading the trunk of his car. “I have been working since I was 16, I stopped ten years ago and with my wife we ​​have 1 500 euros of pension for two to live on. We can’t make ends meet anymore, we can’t take it anymore, we’re at the end of our ropehe admits with emotion. I can’t go to restaurants anymore, I don’t go to the movies anymore. We’ve reached this point, in 2024.”he regrets.

At the bank, we are always overdrawn but we can’t do otherwise. We can’t live anymore.

Enrique, beneficiary of Secours Populaire

to franceinfo

On the volunteers’ side, we see the situations getting complicated. “It’s getting worse in the sense that when people become precarious, they become really precarious and that makes situations more tense.”observes Monique, head of this branch. Here, the Secours populaire distributes a food parcel to 550 families every month.