This week, we therefore learned with this barometer study published by the Apprentis d’Auteuil that half of the French people had donated to associations linked to the Ukrainian cause.
franceinfo: The French were visibly there in this beginning of the conflict at the gates of Europe, there is a great generosity?
Yes, there is an emotion, an immense emotion because on the one hand, it’s in Europe, on the other hand, we see it a lot on television. There is a form of obscenity to this war because it is almost live on TV. So it is indeed unimaginable. There is huge support. Almost half of French people gave or said they were going to give.
Afterwards, the pandemic somewhat slowed down a certain number of commitments, because, for example, before the pandemic, there were roughly a quarter of French people who gave time to associative movements, marauding, solidarity. It’s a lot. We went down a bit because first of all, with the Covid, we couldn’t do everything. There are people who have stopped, etc. We are now only one in five French people who give time because it is important to give time.
And then, another thing that must also be said is that in fact the rich give more than the others, which is logical somewhere. But there are almost 80% of people who live very comfortably, who have given to Ukraine and who give regularly, who often give more than 2,000 euros a year. So, you have to be careful. I think the poor are often more supportive, but not necessarily in money because they have little. It can be in proximity, in services, in DIY, in childcare, etc., in other forms of solidarity.
But indeed, we have here this Ukrainian phenomenon which is likely to be a little negative for the usual donations, including because with inflation, there are a certain number of people who will say to themselves, it is perhaps not be the time to give. So we will have to mobilize the population so that it maintains its donations.
According to this study, one in five donors agrees that they will donate less this year for other humanitarian causes. It’s a bit the backlash of this generosity for Ukraine. We’ve already donated somewhere, so we say to ourselves maybe I’m passing my turn for the rest?
Yes, but of course. So donations are tax deductible at 50%, it also weights things a bit. You know more and more, donations are subscriptions, we are a world of subscriptions. So there are lots of people who have subscriptions that give 10 euros, 20 euros every month for Unicef or for another cause. And suddenly, they are subscribers for life. I would even say more, they no longer know how to stop? Because once you open your subscription account, it’s small amounts.
In some stores, we collect the cents of your purchases and the cents are automatically donated to associations. So there are also modern collection systems that regulate donations. The French are numerous to give, it is a society very built on the associative world and on donations. So we can always hope for more. But I find that there are really a lot of people who give money for others.
And this habit of giving of your time too, which may have been lost a little for fear of contamination. We must also resume this habit. Maybe it’s complicated?
Yes, but we take it back, we can clearly see that there are “new entrants” because the great moment of solidarity between generations is when we retire because we are still in great shape, and we have 10 years ahead of us. Look at the people who do the marauding, it’s often young retirees. In this society, the gift of time, the gift of service, enormous within families, to look after the children and to look after the elders, and on that, I believe that we have to make life easier for people in there.