UNICEF France and the Federation of Solidarity Actors are warning this Thursday, August 29, about the number of children on the streets in France. “A tragedy when we know the disastrous consequences in terms of both mental health and education,” they argue.
An “unacceptable” situation: more than 2,000 children are forced to sleep on the streets, according to Unicef France and the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS), who warned on Thursday of the “disastrous” consequences of a childhood without a roof over their heads.
“It is unacceptable, we cannot accept that a society treats its children in this way,” declared the representative of the UN agency in France, Adeline Hazan, denouncing a “flagrant violation of the principles of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child” ratified by France.
“We are very, very concerned to see that, far from improving, the situation is getting worse year after year, it is a tragedy when we know the disastrous consequences both in terms of mental health and education,” she adds.
An underestimated figure
According to the barometer data, at least 2,043 children (including 467 under the age of 3) remained without accommodation during the night of 19 to 20 August following their family’s request to 115, the emergency number for homeless people.
This is less than the 3,000 children who were counted in October 2023, but it is an unprecedented figure for this back-to-school period, up 3% compared to August 2023, 27% compared to 2022 and 120% compared to 2020.
This increase “illustrates a systematic failure of accommodation and housing policies”, according to the two organisations which highlight “short-term” policies and “harmful directions”, from the “anti-squat law to the reduction of APL” (housing benefits), including the “unravelling of the SRU law”, which imposes social housing quotas on towns.
“Alarming”, the figure of 2,000 is also largely underestimated, insist Unicef France and the FAS. The barometer does not take into account those who have given up calling 115, children living in shanty towns or squats or unaccompanied minors.
“A resigned government that has not done much”
Far from being new, the situation of children on the streets in France reached a new milestone this summer in Lyon where several women found themselves homeless with their newborns.
The government, recalls FAS president Pascal Brice, had nevertheless made a commitment in 2022: to ensure that there were no more children on the streets – “a commitment that we are still waiting for”.
“We are faced with a resigning government that has not done much and has not even pretended to do anything,” denounces Manuel Domergue, director of studies at the Abbé Pierre Foundation, calling on the future government to tackle the housing issue “head on.”
“We must act without delay on the most serious situations. If you release 100 or 200 million euros, it will allow us to ensure that the children we are talking about are accommodated. We are talking about 2,000 children, France has the means to do it, it is all a question of political will,” he adds.
