This is a number that continues to increase. In 20 years, the number of poor people in France has increased from 7.4 to 9.8 million – if we set the poverty threshold at 60% of the median standard of living. In a study published this Tuesday, December 3, 2024, the Observatory of Inequalities draws on new data to map the geography of poverty in the country.
According to this report, 10.8% of residents live below the poverty line in Ille-et-Vilaine – or 114,225 people. If the department is doing better overall than many others in France, certain areas concentrate the vast majority of social difficulties.
The poverty map in Ille-et-Vilaine
This is particularly the case for Rennes. In the Breton capital, 21% of residents live below the poverty line – or 38,834 people. According to the Observatory of Inequalities, half of them live on less than €890 per month. They are mainly found in the priority districts of the City such as Blosne, Villejean and obviously Maurepas which houses the Brno sector. Within this small area plagued by drug trafficking, 65% of residents live below the poverty line – making it the poorest sector in Brittany.
“Cities and their nearby suburbs concentrate poverty and inequalities,” specifies the Observatory report. “This situation is due in particular to the location of jobs, which attract young people in particular, and to the much more developed social housing offer in large cities.”
An observation that we find in the figures for municipalities in the inner ring such as Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande (15% of inhabitants are considered poor), Chartres-de-Bretagne or even Vezin-le-Coquet ( 13%) who also have very high poverty rates.
Two-sided poverty
If the urban center concentrates the majority of poverty in Ille-et-Vilaine, the rural areas are not spared. In several municipalities in the Vitré region and the Fougères basin, nearly one in five residents is considered poor. With significant disparities in the living conditions of these populations.
“We find in particular in isolated rural areas structural poverty among elderly people, who have little hope of seeing their situation improve,” indicates the report. “More generally, in these territories, the lack of jobs and public or private services does not facilitate access to better situations for those most in difficulty.”
In its study, the Observatory of Inequalities thus highlights an indicator of poverty intensity which allows it to locate the sectors where the standard of living of poor people is furthest from the poverty threshold. This tool clearly highlights certain very rural areas such as Martigné-Ferchaud, in the south-east of the department, or Val-Couesnon in which poverty is considered more lasting.
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