While the government must present its “solidarity pact”, franceinfo takes a look at the alarming indicators.
After several postponements, the government’s new plan dedicated to poverty, called the “solidarity pact”, was finally presented on Monday September 18. In a context of high inflation, linked to the war in Ukraine since February 2022, this new strategy to combat poverty raises significant expectations. Especially since several associations have been alarmed in recent months. If the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, “rejects this idea that there is an impoverishment of French society”, several indicators are deteriorating. Franceinfo details four of them.
1The monetary poverty rate is not decreasing
This rate corresponds to the number of households which have a standard of living lower than 60% of the median standard of living of the population, i.e. 1,102 euros per month for a person living alone and 2,314 euros for a couple with two children aged under 14 years old. In 2019, 9.2 million people, or nearly 15% of the French population, were in this situation, according to INSEE figures. 2020 data (in the context of the health crisis) “did not converge towards an evolution of poverty”explains Anne Jaubertie, head of the household income division at INSEE.
According to her, the French monetary poverty rate, lower on average than in the European Union (16.8%), is turning “around 14%” for about twenty years. This stability reflects an impossibility of escaping poverty for part of the French population. An INSEE study carried out on the evolution of income, for the same person, between 2003 and 2019 showed that “among the 20% richest people and the 20% poorest, two thirds remained in the same category”underlines Anne Jaubertie.
Furthermore, the annual Secours populaire barometer, published at the beginning of September, points to a worsening of the situation of the French on a monetary level. According to this survey, 60% of those questioned believe that over the last three years, their purchasing power has decreased. This year, 18% say they are living uncovered, three points more than in 2022.
2More than one in 10 French people go without
The rate of “material and social deprivation” is an alternative way of measuring poverty, with more recent indicators. It reached 14% of France’s population at the start of 2022, its highest level since the creation of this indicator in 2013, INSEE announced in July. This rate reached 13.4% in 2020 and 12.4% in 2013.
This study attests that “the deprivations which have increased the most are linked to the economic context”, notes Anne Jaubertie. Thus, 10.2% of households report not being able to sufficiently heat their homes, compared to 6.1% in 2021 and 5% in 2018. INSEE sees this in particular as the impact of the increase in the price of domestic fuel, “heating fuel that vulnerable households use more than others”.
At the start of 2022, more households were also reporting being financially unable to replace worn furniture (26% compared to 24% at the start of 2020), or to eat meat, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every two days ( 9% compared to 7% at the start of 2020). Likewise, the proportion of households declaring that they cannot afford a week’s vacation away from home during the year has increased (24% compared to 22% at the start of 2020), whereas it had been decreasing for around ten years. .
According to INSEE, the deprivation rate depends a lot on the composition of households: it reaches 6.8% among couples without children, 15.8% among single people, but rises to 31.1% among single-parent families. It also depends on the place of life: inhabitants of rural areas, who have higher energy expenses, are those whose rate of deprivation increases the most compared to 2020.
3 The number of beneficiaries of Restos du coeur explodes
Faced with rising consumer prices, Restos du coeur deplore an increase in new people registered for food aid. In 2023, nearly 1.3 million people benefited from meals distributed by the association compared to 1.1 million in 2022.
The number of meals distributed will increase until the end of the year, according to the association, which provides 35% of food aid in France. It expects to distribute nearly 170 million meals in 2023, an increase of 30 million compared to 2022. Faced with financial difficulties, the president of the association, Patrice Douret, announced that the Restos du coeur could refuse beneficiaries next winter and launched a call for donations to businesses and the government.
This constant increase in demand for food aid does not only concern the association founded by Coluche, but also Secours populaire, food banks and the Red Cross. “All of these structures saw between 7 and 9% additional increase in their beneficiaries for the first quarter of 2023 alone”underlines Laurence Lepetit, general delegate of France Générosités, to AFP.
4 More than 4 million people are poorly housed
In a context of rising property prices and a housing shortage, poor housing is increasing in France. This is the observation made by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation in its 28th annual report, published at the beginning of February. It estimates the number of poorly or unhoused people to be 4.15 million in 2022.
Around this alarming figure “a much larger halo emerges with sometimes blurred contours” and which brings together households who live in a situation of overcrowding or are subject to energy poverty due to rising prices. According to the foundation, “nearly 15 million people are affected, in one way or another, by the housing crisis”.
The Abbé-Pierre Foundation is concerned about the lack of resources and ambition mobilized by the government. “Since 2017, the various successive governments have shown a lack of interest and a lack of sensitivity on the subject by applying a policy of rigor. There is an obsession with making savings in this sector”explains Manuel Domergue, director of studies at the Abbé-Pierre Foundation.