Poverty “gets worse” and national solidarity “withers away and fades away”reveals Secours catholique-Caritas France in its report on the state of poverty in France, published Thursday November 14. This study is based on data collected by the association, in 2023, from its beneficiaries. In 2023, it will support 1.06 million people in precarious situations.
According to Catholic Relief, “Women are the first victims of poverty“. “They represent 57% of the people met”notes the association, specifying that one in four women is a single mother. The youngest are also particularly affected with “35% of people welcomed who are under 15 years old”. This does not prevent “an aging of the people welcomed” Who “observed for several years”according to the study.
The inactivity rate of people supported by Secours catholique is “higher and higher” : “It reflects the situations of retired people, incapacity for health reasons (increase of 5 points in ten years) or even childcare constraints.” The majority of workers welcomed have precarious jobs, such as part-time or fixed-term contracts. More than half of the foreign people supported by the association are without resources and 55% of foreign households are families with children.
A quarter of the people welcomed by Secours catholique-Caritas France were without resources in 2023. A “record figure which testifies to the worsening of living conditions”according to the association. “The median standard of living of the households encountered stands at 555 euros per month, down 19 euros compared to 2022″underlines the report. Of all the households met, 95% are below the poverty level, “74% are even in a situation of extreme poverty”according to the study. The first need expressed by the people monitored is that of food aid (46% of households). “The need for help with administrative procedures increases by seven points in ten years, expressed by 13% of households encountered in 2023”details Catholic Relief.
The association observes that “national solidarity, as it is expressed through social benefits over the years, is fading and moving away”while 60% of supported households mention “accidents of life”such as a separation, a move, an illness or even a loss of job. The RSA, the activity bonus and other social minimums represent “less than 4% of social protection expenditure, far behind social benefits covering risks linked to old age (44%) and health (37%)”underlines the report.
Catholic Relief imputes “the decline in access to certain rights” au “tightening of eligibility criteria concerning Aspa (minimum old age), unemployment benefits and RSA”. According to the association, “the unemployment insurance reform has pushed some of the unemployed towards inactivity, like young workers”. In France, the rate of non-recourse to RSA reaches 36% in 2023, or ten points more than in 2010, reports the association.
The situation is similar for the old age minimum. “Whether it is the product of renunciation, a fear of being stigmatized, a lack of knowledge or difficulties in accessing procedures, non-recourse to social benefits is none other than the result of the distance from solidarity, produced by the administration itself”particularly because of the dematerialization of procedures, affirms Secours catholique.
The path to accessing social benefits “can be complex, fraught with pitfalls, especially for isolated people”explains the association in its report. She calls for “guarantee physical access within administrations”, “intensify the go-to mechanisms”like France Services, “simplify procedures and adapt them to individual situations” et “defend a decent guaranteed minimum income”.
*Methodology: This poverty analysis is based on data collected in 2023 by Secours catholique-Caritas France field workers and helps shed light on the situation of the most precarious people in France.
