Some key figures:
The poverty threshold at 50% of median income is €1,014 (for a single person, after social benefits).
The number of poor people is estimated at 5.1 million, or 8.1% of the population (taking the poverty threshold at 50% of median income).
A quarter of the population cannot afford to go on vacation.
12% of the population does not have the financial means to heat their home sufficiently.
63% of poor people live in cities.
Poverty is increasing:
Between 2002 and 2022, in twenty years, the number of poor people in France increased from 3.8 million to 5.1 million. The poverty rate increased from 6.6% to 8.1% of the population.
The number of poor people increased by a third when the French population increased by 10%.
Who are the poor:
The factors that lead to poverty are:
– Age: 10% of 18-29 year olds are poor.
– Isolation: 12.8 % of single people under 65, and even 19.2 % of single-parent families are poor.
– Unemployment: Non-retired inactive people are 22.1 % living below the poverty line.
But also the level of studies: 81% of the poor have not reached the baccalaureate.
But also the origin: Immigrants are over-represented, their poverty rate reaches 18.8 %.
But also disability: one disabled person in 5 has a standard of living below the poverty rate at 60% of median income.
And the seniors ?
With the poverty line at 50 % of median income, 65-74 year olds represent 6.1% of the poor and those over 75 5.7%.
The number of poor people over 65 is estimated at 604,000.
With the poverty threshold at 60% of the median income, those over 65 are three times more likely to be considered poor, more than 1.7 million.
With the poverty rate at 50% of the median income, the old-age minimum, €1,012, is at the poverty threshold. With the poverty rate at 60% of the median income, or 1,216 euros, the old-age minimum is 17% below the poverty line.
Let us not forget that the non-recourse to the old age minimum is massive, and that it concerns one in two people among retirees who live alone, according to the latest report from the CESSATION.
And even with the parameters used by the Observatory of Inequalities, the poverty rate reaches 7.7% among people over 65 who live alone.
For theWHAT Retirees, poor retirees, whose situation, let us remember, is irreversible, are mainly located in a gray zone between the poverty threshold at 60% and the poverty threshold at 50%. Although many are, fortunately, spared from extreme poverty, when they have incomes below the SMIChighly exposed to multiple insecurity: energy insecurity, reduced mobility, even food insecurity, as shown by our Barometer WHAT retirees.
To go further: Report on poverty in France
