the essential
The poverty rate is clearly increasing in Cantepau (Albi) and Laden Petit Train (Castres). Nearly 70% of residents in these priority neighborhoods live below the poverty line according to the latest data published by INSEE.
Occitanie is over-represented in the new ranking of the 20 poorest urban policy priority districts (QPV) in mainland France, published by the Observatory of Inequalities.
The priority districts of Perpignan, Nîmes and Béziers are in the first places but the Tarn department is also represented: Cantepau (Albi) and Laden Petit Train (Castres) are ranked in 8th and 9th positions with a poverty rate of 69% in 2021, according to INSEE data.
Nearly 70% of residents live below the poverty line
Located on the right bank of the Tarn, the Albigensian district of Cantepau, made up mainly of apartment blocks built in the 1970s and managed by the social landlord Tarn Habitat, has been in this ranking for many years. In 2012, it was in 19th position with a poverty rate of 62%. Since then, the increase has been almost constant with a first peak in 2018 (66.8%) before reaching 69% in 2021.
Cantepau today has just under 2000 inhabitants. 2/3 of them therefore live below the poverty line, as in the priority district of Laden Petit Train, located near the city center of Castres. The latter has a little over a thousand inhabitants. He is also a “regular” in the ranking: 15th in 2017, 13th in 2019, 7th in 2020…
Archives DDM – Emilie Cayre
“The high poverty of the 20 priority neighborhoods in our ranking is partly explained by characteristics that they have in common,” explains the Observatory of Inequalities. “If their inhabitants have few resources, it is in particular because of their profile. These territories in fact concentrate the population categories most exposed to poverty.”
Young and less qualified population
Those under 25 represent more than 1/3 of the inhabitants of the priority districts of Cantepau and Laden Petit Train. In the first, more than 40% of young people aged 16 to 25 are out of school and unemployed.
Single-parent families also make up almost half of households in Cantepau (44.5% in Laden Petit Train), much more than the national average. The inhabitants of these two neighborhoods are also less qualified: half of the population does not have a diploma. Finally, the foreign population is higher than elsewhere: 22.3% in Laden Petit Train and up to 28.9% in Cantepau, compared to 8% on the national average.
“It is the very vocation of these neighborhoods in which the share of social housing is very high to welcome households who have the most difficulties, often with low levels of qualifications, to allow them to find decent housing. “, adds the Observatory of Inequalities.
Also read:
“We are a third of the way through the project”: the vast renovation of the Laden district continues
Massive investments
In Castres as in Albi, these two priority districts are currently the subject of massive investments as part of vast urban renovation programs: around 60 million euros in Cantepau and nearly 40 million euros in Laden Petit Train.
Also read:
Cantepau: emblematic buildings being demolished
At the same time, new “city contracts” targeting all priority districts over the period 2024-2030 were signed by the agglomerations of Albigeois and Castres-Mazamet, in conjunction with the State and local public partners. . The actions defined by these city contracts relate to education, employment, living conditions and security.
What about the other priority districts of Tarn?
The Tarn department has a total of 11 urban policy priority districts (QPV), whose perimeters have been fixed by decree: Cantepau, Lapanouse and Veyrières-Rayssac in Albi, Laden Petit Train, Lameilhé, Aillot Bisséous Lardaillé and Center -City in Castres, La Falgalarié in Aussillon, Rajol – Cérou – Gourgatieux – Bouloc – Glassworks in Carmaux, Lentajou – Catalanis and Crins – En Gach in Gaillac.
The latter is the most populated with 3,159 inhabitants in 2020, followed by Aillot Bisséous Lardaillé (2,392 inhabitants) and Lameilhé (2,139 inhabitants). The evolution of poverty in these neighborhoods is contrasting. In 2021, according to INSEE data, it was decreasing in Lapanouse (poverty rate of 57%), La Falgalarié (55%) and Lameilhé (51%). On the other hand, it increased in the other districts.
Nearly one in two residents lives below the poverty line in Veyrières-Rayssac and Aillot Bisséous Lardaillé (47%). The situation is slightly better in the two priority districts of Gaillac (43%), in that of Carmaux (44%) and in that of the Center-Ville of Castres (39%).
The poverty rate calculated by INSEE corresponds to the threshold of 60% of the median standard of living. In these priority Tarn neighborhoods, other socio-economic indicators (unemployment rate, share of the population without a diploma, single-parent families and foreigners) are also higher than the national average.
