Confinement: The Double Penalty of the Badly Housed - 20 Minutes

Four million people are poorly housed in France. Four million people who live in an apartment that is too small or unsanitary. Four million people for whom containment is a nightmare. "All year long, these people suffer from poor housing conditions, but during periods of confinement, they see the problems linked to these poor housing conditions worsen," explains Christophe Robert, delegate general of the Abbé Foundation, at 20 minutes Pierre.

Youlia and her family are among these four million people. She lives with her husband and their five children in a 39 square meter basement apartment in Menton. "I think it was not even a habitable place before ...", she told us. This is also the case of Hélène who lives in a 14 square meter in Toulon with her companion. “The main room is a living room-bedroom-kitchen of 10 square meters in which humidity is omnipresent. "For Mikaël, who lives with his partner in Strasbourg, in a ground floor apartment overlooking another building, with bars on the windows," the passing natural light is what we miss most. "

Housing that "makes you sick" ...

A poorly insulated apartment, with water or humidity infiltration, can make its occupants sick. Rhinitis, tonsillitis and even respiratory diseases: the consequences for their health are numerous. But if, in normal times, they try to spend as much time as possible outside their home, they are forced to stay there all day for three and a half weeks.

"Confinement increases the risk of health problems related to their poor housing," says Christophe Robert. “Precariousness has an impact on health. The poorly housed are more fragile. They have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and we know that these are Covid-19 risk factors, ”agrees Claire Hédon, president of ATD Fourth World.

… And prevent the isolation of coronavirus patients

This vulnerability vis-à-vis the Covid-19 of precarious people is particularly visible in Seine-Saint-Denis. The department is among the most affected by the epidemic. In question, the number of inhabitants of the department forced to go to work because of their profession, but also the overcrowding that affects the department. A third of the inhabitants of Seine-Saint-Denis are overcrowded in their accommodation, that is to say live with more than 4 people in 35 square meters.

“When someone around us is suspected of having the Covid-19, we put it in a separate room. But the poorest do not have that possibility, ”deplores Claire Hédon. People living in homes that are too small therefore have a higher risk of spreading the virus. Franck, who lives in a 15 square meter suburb of Bordeaux, confirms: “In my building, the bathroom is shared. It is therefore very difficult to comply with the barrier measures. "

"Sometimes I isolate myself in my car"

If overcrowding increases the health risk, it also increases the risk of intra-family tensions. Not being able to have a space to retire or have a little privacy, can create tensions between parent and child but also between children or within the couple, as Hélène says, who shares a studio of 14 square meters with his companion: “Living in confinement in this way is an ordeal. We are 24 hours a day "on top of each other" ".

“When you're poorly housed, being outside, going to see friends, is a valve. But since the start of confinement, this valve no longer exists, ”explains Christophe Robert. To find moments of tranquility and to breathe, Hélène isolates herself in her car, in the parking lot in front of her building.

This overcrowding is all the more problematic that with confinement, school must be done at home. "In normal times, we have testimonies from children who do their homework in stairwells, toilets, or a car", deplores Christophe Robert. “Living in overcrowded housing increases the risk of school failure. This is true in normal times and even more so in periods of confinement. So the teachers had to adapt.

Fear of being deported after confinement

Closing schools also represents an additional cost for parents, who now have to feed more mouths. More expenses, therefore, with sometimes less income. "These financial fears create very significant stress situations on the risk of non-payment and therefore on the risk of eviction," notes Christophe Robert. A two-month extension of the winter break has been in place until May 31. But people with low incomes fear the future.

"Fear is omnipresent among residents who are victims of precariousness at all times, because it is more difficult to end the month, but this epidemic adds fear", explains the president of ATD Fourth World. To try to reduce these anxieties, the associations continue their work of help and listening. "We use the phone a lot and when we feel that people are very bad, ATD Fourth World volunteers go there," says Claire Hédon. But phone credit, like the rest, is expensive.

Several associations therefore request exceptional assistance for precarious households, of the order of 250 euros per person per month for those who are beneficiaries of social minima and back-to-school assistance. Just like an exceptional fund to help pay receipts (rents and charges). "The goal is that these people can honor their housing costs and do not get into difficulty as soon as they are released from confinement, which would considerably reduce their stress", comments Christophe Robert.

"This confinement accentuates inequalities"

For the president of ATD Fourth World “this confinement accentuates the inequalities and shows them in a more blatant way. This situation is all the more visible in poor neighborhoods. “These people live in denser neighborhoods and so when they go out, there are more people on the street. But it is not their fault. In some districts of Paris, half of the residents have moved to their second home. The poorest are not so lucky. "

“All the difficulties which weigh on the badly housed all the year are exacerbated power 1.000. The most fragile are paying a heavy price because of this confinement. I hope there will be a jump in awareness of the social and health damage caused by poor housing. »Hélène, she tries to put into perspective:« I am not to be pitied because I do not live outside and I am in good health. I also tell myself that when you experience the worst, only the best will come. "

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  • Society
  • Covid 19
  • Bad housing
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  • Containment