More than a quarter of the people welcomed by Secours catholique in 2023 were without resources, a record level, according to the association which warns this Thursday, November 14, 2024 of the difficulty of accessing social benefits due to tightened criteria and procedures complex dematerialized.
The median income of households hosted by the association stood at 555 euros per month in 2023, notes Secours catholique in its annual report.
In total, 95% of the households met lived below the poverty line, or 1,216 euros for a single person.
Above all, 25.4% of them were without resources, a figure “record”up two points from the previous year. They try to “survive thanks to the resourcefulness and support of those who are able to help them”.
This precariousness is notably the translation of “the distancing of the solidarity produced by the administration itself”according to the association, which last year welcomed more than a million people, including 216,000 families with children.
Need help completing the procedures
It thus alerts on “the difficulty in accessing social protection in the face of the dematerialization of administrative procedures”implemented a decade ago and which has accelerated since 2017. Thus, 13% of households encountered in 2023 expressed a need for help to carry out such procedures, an increase of 7 points in ten years.
These audiences come up against “sites made by the administration and for the administration”explains the president of Secours catholique, Didier Duriez. “Those who do not have access to the internet”, “those who don’t understand” what is asked of them, nor how to navigate the administrative twists and turns, are the most penalized.
Result: a certain number of people do not receive the aid to which they are entitled.
For example, more than a third of French households eligible for Active Solidarity Income (36.1%) encountered by Secours catholique do not request it, a proportion increasing by more than 13 points in a decade. Regarding family allowances, almost a quarter of eligible households do not receive them, a share up by almost 10 points since 2010.
“The Cross and the Banner”
“To get certain organizations on the phone or to get an appointment, it’s the cross and the banner”deplores Nathalie, a 58-year-old home helper on sick leave due to Charcot disease.
“Each time, we don’t come across the same person, we have to start from scratch to explain the situation to them. We have to redo, redo, redo and redo some more paperwork”she adds. “We don’t care at all about people who are isolated or on low incomes.”
In addition to the lack of knowledge or discouragement faced with the difficulty of carrying out the process, the fear of being stigmatized explains the non-use of these social benefits.
Fear of being stigmatized
“The more we say in the media, at the level of political authorities, that these people are on welfare and that it costs a lot of money”plus “It does incredible damage”assures Didier Duriez.
The decline in access to certain rights is also the result of “tightening of eligibility criteria” to certain aid, such as the minimum old age, unemployment benefits and RSA, estimates Secours catholique.
Risk of “no man’s land”
“If you don’t check the boxes” or that “you are a little bit outside the box that is intended”the risk is to enter into a “no man’s land” where a lot of time – months – can pass before a response from the administration, warns Mr. Duriez.
To remedy this situation, the association is asking to guarantee physical access to administrations and the establishment of a “public policy to combat non-recourse”.
