The risk of falling into poverty is increasing due to the economic consequences of the health crisis.

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  • According to the Ipsos 2020 Poverty Barometer for the Secours populaire * 33% of French people believe that their income just allows them to make ends meet and 18% say they cannot.

  • And the associations already overwhelmed by the demand for help, anticipate a new boom in beneficiaries.

At the start of the year, they didn't necessarily need to do their accounts.

Now it is a necessity.

The economic consequences of the health crisis have plunged some of the French into financial embarrassment, even into precariousness for some of them.

According to the Ipsos 2020 Poverty Barometer for the Secours populaire * published this Wednesday, 33% of French people believe that their income just allows them to make ends meet and 18% confide that they cannot.

A financial descent which is explained by a loss of income between the months of February and August 2020 for a third of the French.

A phenomenon that affects not only people who have lost their jobs, but also the working people, as explained by Jean Stellittano, national secretary of Secours populaire: “43% of those who have seen their income melt away are working people.

Because some of them were put on short-time work and their company did not compensate for the loss of wages.

Others were unable to work overtime and those who hold two jobs have sometimes lost one.

Not to mention the business leaders who have lowered their remuneration or have not paid themselves to save their company.

Or even the subcontractors of large companies who have lost contracts ”.

57% of French people are afraid of falling into poverty

Financial difficulties which force them to make trade-offs in their expenses.

“They postpone certain medical care (dental, ophthalmologic, blood tests).

And restrict their food expenses.

Moreover, those who benefit from food aid to popular relief mainly come to look for fruits and vegetables and proteins ”, notes Jean Stellittano.

Unsurprisingly: it is the most precarious households with incomes of less than 1,200 euros net which are the most affected by these deprivations.

Because if 40% of French people restrict themselves to the quality of their food, 64% of the most modest are forced to.

According to the Secours populaire barometer, 57% of French people surveyed also said they had not gone on vacation this summer (30% of those under 35).

One in four for financial reasons.

“While holidays are sacred among the French and they always save during the year to be able to afford them.

But many preferred to give up leaving because of the uncertainties that weighed on their jobs, ”analyzes the national secretary of the Secours populaire.

And concern is growing among many French people, 57% of them afraid of falling into poverty.

“After confinement, the social shock absorber worked.

Thanks to partial unemployment, with the help of 1,500 euros for the self-employed, with the help of 150 euros for households benefiting from social minima… These safety nets coupled with any household savings have enabled them to hold out.

But we know that some have also taken out consumer loans, have recently become beneficiaries of the RSA, or are losing their jobs… ”, also worries Jean Stellittano.

"We need a real poverty plan to match the recovery plan"

A perspective that puts even more pressure on humanitarian associations.

Because during the first two months of confinement, the Secours populaire helped 1,270,000 people, 45% of whom were not known to the association.

“Single-parent families, the elderly, students, but also temporary workers, self-employed workers, home helpers, artisans.

And we fear that a new wave of people in difficulty will arrive in our reception centers this winter, ”warns Jean Stellittano.

An apprehension also relayed by the Restos du cœur and the Secours Catholique.

And if donations from individuals, businesses and foundations poured in during the lockdown, they fell afterwards.

The association received 3.3 million euros from the state this summer.

However, an insufficient amount in the face of the skyrocketing beneficiaries.

"We need a real poverty plan to match the recovery plan," claims Jean Stellittano, while calling on individuals and the private sector to show even more solidarity.

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* Barometer carried out with 1,002 people constituting a representative sample of the French population aged 16 and over according to the quota method:.

They were interviewed by telephone on September 4 and 5, 2020. 

  • Coronavirus

  • Covid 19

  • Society

  • Solidarity

  • Association

  • Poverty