The latest report on poverty in France from Secours Catholique was made public this Thursday, November 14 and draws up an observation “alarming“: 6,400 households were supported during the past year, including 54% of the people supported are isolated women, single or just single mothers. In addition, 44% of the people welcomed are without resources and the median standard of living is falling: 517 euros per month in Isère, compared to 537 the previous year. Finally, 90% of beneficiaries have a standard of living below the poverty line. (less than 1275 euros) and 67% of them are even in a situation of extreme poverty (less than 850 euros).
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Social protection, at the heart of the problem
Secours Catholique explains these figures by a massive non-recourse to social benefits, mainly due to the lack of knowledge of the providers of this aid, as well as the difficulty in obtaining it. Brigitte Gauthier, president of Secours Catholique de l’Isère. “The increase in poverty is largely due to the non-use of social benefits, including the RSA” she explains.
Brigitte Gauthier adds that this social benefit in particular is very often stigmatized. Furthermore, due to the dematerialization of procedures, few people have the reflex to ask for it. “Today, almost all administrative procedures are done via the internet and it is not that easy. Add to this the fact that the applicants are in a very precarious situation, all this is accentuated” she concludes.
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This is why a IT support is put in place. “We show them how to make requests, submit an administrative file” says Sonia, volunteer. “Some people don't have a computer or a smartphone and on top of that, they don't know how to go about it, so we help them” she adds.
Beneficiaries very often overwhelmed
In Isère, Catholic Relief has the particularity of welcoming a majority of beneficiaries waiting for identity papers, sometimes minors. Which means that for the moment, they cannot work. As a result, supporting these precarious people can be very difficult. “I am 25 years old and I live with an acquaintance in Grenoble. I don't have any papers, so I can't work. Secours Catholique provides me with some administrative help” says Marie. She arrived in France in 2023, and comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Photocopies, or procedures on the internet, that’s all I can hope for at the moment” she continues.
“I was alone, without anyone”
For his part, Baptiste, a 16-year-old Guinean, slept outside in a tent in Grenoble for several months before being accompanied by Secours Catholique. “I was alone, without anyone, without income. As I did not yet have identity papers and I am very young, it was impossible to provide for myself. Today, the association directed me to a night reception where I can sleep and during the day, I go to school” he explains.
His very precarious journey required Secours Catholique a real mobilization. “He was not recognized as a minor, so his journey is very complicated” explains Marie-Noëlle, volunteer. “Today, we support him at the administrative level, we direct him towards all the associations which distribute food. At night, Baptiste is hosted by a Catholic parish, which also hosts six young people” she concludes.
In its report, Secours Catholique asks the government to guarantee physical access within administrationsbut also to simplify procedures and adapt them to individual situations. Finally, the association above all asks for guarantee of a decent minimum income.
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