Precariousness: a third of French people deprive themselves of hygiene products, according to a survey

Europe 1 with AFP 17:21 p.m., March 21, 2023

Showering without soap, rationing menstrual protection, giving up deodorant: a third of French people deprive themselves of hygiene products because of the economic context, and this precariousness is worsening, according to an Ifop survey for the association Dons solidaires*, published Tuesday on the Libération website. Hygienic precariousness, which "degrades self-esteem and leads to isolation", "continues to progress and is no longer the prerogative of the beneficiaries of associations" fighting poverty, alarmed in a statement this association which collects unsold products from companies to give them to the charitable sector.

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7% of respondents say they brush their teeth without toothpaste

In detail, 7% of respondents say they brush their teeth without toothpaste, 8% wash without soap or shower gel, and 17% of parents do not change their child's diapers as frequently as they would like. In the previous barometer on this subject, in 2021, these proportions were about half as low. "How to feel dignified when you lack such essential products?" asked Dominique Besançon, the general delegate of Dons solidaires, who wants to "alert on this precariousness still too little considered".

Logically, the figures are even more alarming when we specifically ask poor people, beneficiaries of the associations of the Dons solidaires network: 73% say they deprive themselves of hygiene products in general, 34% of shampoo and 31% of menstrual protection. "Sometimes I wash children with water alone, or tell them to do only a quick toilet," said a mother of two, quoted in the statement. Another says she uses toilet paper as periodic protection: "I deprive myself to leave more protection for my daughters," she explains.

*Ifop survey for Dons solidaires, conducted on two panels: a representative sample of 1,501 respondents, plus 300 parents of children aged three or under, interviewed by online self-administered questionnaire in November 2022; and a sample of 1,162 beneficiaries of associations in precarious situations and social exclusion, interviewed in January and February 2023 at the premises of partner associations.