In France, 9.3 million people live below the poverty line. This is a lot but it is not more than in previous years according to INSEE estimates. Living below the poverty line means living on less than 1,100 euros per month (for a single person).
This stability can be explained by the support measures deployed by the government. Through what are called social shock absorbers: for example, the most modest households, the RSA, the Active Solidarity Income or those who benefit from the specific solidarity allowance, have received in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis a aid of 150 euros in June and November 2020.
There was also partial activity, massively paid out when the economy was at a standstill, which avoided too great a loss of income for employees. Self-employed workers and artisans have benefited from financial support, via the solidarity fund. Without this exceptional aid, INSEE estimates that there would have been 400,000 more poor people in 2020.
Nicolas Carnot, the director of studies at INSEE, underlines this: even if the state aid has saved many French people from sinking into poverty, it has not necessarily prevented them from slipping a little more into poverty. precariousness and therefore to experience additional difficulties. Associations note, for example, a 10% increase in appeals for food aid.
This INSEE survey is not exhaustive, it relates to mainland France only. It does not take into account informal income such as undeclared work which may have decreased during confinement and therefore impoverished some households.
To the question of whether the rich got richer, the answer is no according to INSEE. Income inequalities did not widen during this crisis. The standard of living of the richest 20% is more than four times higher than that of the poorest 20%, as in 2019. But, be careful, we are talking about the standard of living, and not of the heritage. In normal times, the rich already save more than the poor. And there, by consuming less during the crisis, they were able to put more aside, and therefore increase their wealth.