Between insalubrity and poverty, students tell their story of their search for housing

This is once again one of the major problems of the start of the university year scheduled for September 16. The search for decent housing and the impoverishment of students. While Emmanuel Macron’s government had implemented the first part of the reform of the scholarship system in 2023, the dissolution of the National Assembly suspended the rest of the revaluations planned for the start of the school year.

Financial support is nevertheless necessary for students who are facing a precarious situation that is constantly increasing due to inflation. According to a study by the Federation of General Student Associations, published in January 2024, nearly 20% of them do not have enough to eat. They also have great difficulty finding accommodation.

The documentary The stock market or life, study at all costsdirected by Claire Lajeunie, broadcast Wednesday September 4 at 10:50 p.m. on France 2, bears witness to the deterioration in the well-being and living conditions of students which has literally exploded since the Covid-19 pandemic, through the daily lives of six young scholarship holders: Anoa, Dawn, Théo, Solène, Emma and Romain.

This choral film examines the mental load of these students, forced to live in tiny apartments and often forced to skip meals, due to lack of means. A life of difficult deprivation to manage and which tests the motivation of these young people to continue their studies or not.

Dawn, 20, originally from Orléans (Loiret), is a second-year BTS student at the Estienne school located in the 13th arrondissement of Paris and holds a level 5 scholarship. To save money, she spends her first year traveling back and forth between the capital and her hometown.I got up at 4:30 every day and came home at 8:00 p.m.“, she confides in the film. Exhausted by this pace, the young student looks for accommodation in Paris at the start of her second year. “I was ready to take whatever came my way,” she assures.

With the help of her uncle and father-in-law, Dawn finally managed to find a 9 m2 studio, the minimum legal surface area of ​​a dwelling that a landlord can rent, located in a sort of converted cellar. “I’m supposed to pay 460 euros, explains the student to one of her friends. But since I don’t have a sink, they reduced the lease by 50 euros (…), I was supposed to have heating, but I don’t have it. I was supposed to have internet and a TV, there isn’t, I had to take a more expensive package.”

Disappointments experienced by many students. Théo, 21, is in his third year of the culture and media section at the University of Lille. He receives a level 5 scholarship, worth 450 euros. An insufficient sum to cover his needs, despite meals for one euro at the Crous restaurant. Théo is therefore forced to work evenings in a daycare and do babysitting to live decently. Time taken away from his studies.

“It’s really complicated to work while studying. If I don’t do it, I can’t live.”

Théo, 21 year old student

In the documentary “The scholarship or life, study at all costs”

A constraint which, according to him, penalizes him compared to other students. “I work almost all the time actually. I would prefer to be quiet in the evening so I can revise my lessons, continues Théo, but I can’t (…) there are classes that are at the same time as daycare hours, so I can’t follow them entirely.” A dull worry, combined with fatigue that can turn into a form of depression for young people who have almost no family support and no one to talk to. Especially when they find themselves on the street, as was the case for Théo who slept for six months in his car in a parking lot.

Students can, however, turn to the Crous social service in their region to find a little support. This is what Théo did when he was at his lowest. “When I first saw you, there were sleeping problems, eating problems and then you were very unwell.“, remembers Dorothée Coulier, social worker at the Crous in Lille. “The day before, I was sleeping in my car, so of course I wasn’t feeling well (…) a week after our meeting, I had a response for accommodation”reveals Théo, who finally managed to find social housing, for a rent of 115 euros per month.

The documentary Scholarship or life, study at all costsdirected by Claire Lajeunie, is broadcast on Wednesday, September 4 at 10:50 p.m. in the program “Infrarouge” on France 2 and on france.tv.