Louis Maurin, March 4, 2021. -
O.Juszczak / 20 Minutes
Every Friday,
20 Minutes
invites a personality to comment on a social phenomenon, in his meeting “20 Minutes with…”.
The director of the Observatory of inequalities, Louis Maurin, who has just published
Even plus !,
paints a picture of the reality of inequalities in French society.
Alongside the "super-rich", who represent 1% of society, he is interested in the very comfortable position of the well-to-do classes, who represent 19% of the French population.
In France, the gaps are widening.
The well-to-do classes see their incomes progressing, while those of other categories stagnate.
In
Even more!
Investigating these privileged people who never have enough *,
Louis Maurin, director of the Observatory of inequalities, analyzes this phenomenon with precision, which has been accentuated since the health crisis.
A situation less and less bearable for a majority of French people, who demand more social justice.
For
20 Minutes
, Louis Maurin evokes the reality of inequalities in French society and offers solutions to fight against it.
Your book was born out of an outrage against inequalities.
Is it because they have widened in recent years?
It is an indignation generated by the repeated observation of the inequalities perpetuated for years in our country.
For twenty years, the standard of living of the working classes and the middle classes has stagnated, while that of the privileged has steadily increased.
In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the popular and middle classes experienced a form of social progression.
Then there was a clean cut.
Poor employment has become encysted in society with the strengthening of labor flexibility, and the public policies carried out have not made it possible to fight effectively against the disparities in wealth.
Hence the appearance of strong social tensions in France.
You explain that the public debate is polarized on the 1% ultra-rich in France, but that we forget the privileged classes.
Who benefits from this simplification of speech?
When we designate a small fringe of society as “responsible” for inequalities, we de facto invisible the 19% of the wealthy category (executives, higher liberal professions, category A civil servants, etc.).
This demagoguery has a goal: not recognizing the advantages of the well-to-do classes allows them to be relieved of the effort of solidarity with the poorest.
Louis Maurin, March 4, 2021. - O.Juszczak / 20 Minutes
From what level of income can we consider ourselves privileged?
From 2,600 net monthly after taxes and social benefits for a single person.
Which represents 19% of the French population.
From 3,500 net, we enter the category of the rich.
Even if these factors are to be qualified according to age and place of residence.
Because we do not have the same standard of living if we have 3,500 net at 30 and live in the provinces than if we have this type of income at 50 and in Paris.
In addition, there are significant differences in income between the top 20%.
Why do wealthy people have such a hard time recognizing themselves as such in France?
Is it related to our reluctance to talk about money?
In part, because the French have a complex relationship with money.
They do not say how much they earn when they are well off, whereas in the United States, saying that they are rich is socially valued.
You denounce a form of hypocrisy among some of the privileged, who declare themselves in favor of equal opportunities but above all do not want us to attack the system allowing social reproduction ...
Yes, for example, they do not fundamentally want us to reform the school system, because the latter calls for the reproduction of the elites.
And during the “yellow vests” crisis, the privileged, who had nevertheless benefited from government fiscal measures, were offended by the refusal of the popular classes to pay the fuel tax.
This discrepancy between their egalitarian discourse and their actions no longer passes in times of crisis with the most precarious.
But according to you, it is also due to the fact that a part of the easy left has become macronist and more easily adheres to the theory of the first of the roped parties ...
Macronism has been a form of coming out for a part of the left, which has allowed itself to speak about competition, success, merit, academic conservatism….
How has the fiscal policy of recent years reinforced inequalities?
The virtual abolition of wealth tax, the single flat-rate levy, which made it possible to reduce taxes on financial income, the abolition of the housing tax, the tax exemption for donations between grandparents, parents and children … All of these measures have benefited the better-off classes.
This represents colossal amounts that could have made it possible to meet social needs.
You stress that the health crisis has further enriched the better-off.
Why ?
The executives and civil servants kept their jobs and as the possibilities to consume disappeared with the health restrictions, they were able to save.
According to the latest figures from the Banque de France, during the first three quarters of the year, an additional 110 billion euros could be saved.
On the other hand, some precarious people have not been able to save a single euro and have fallen into poverty, such as temporary workers, the unemployed, people on fixed-term contracts, the self-employed, undeclared workers, students not benefiting from family support, etc. The health crisis has therefore deepened inequalities.
However, the government has tried to cushion the effects of the crisis on the most vulnerable with several measures.
What more should he have done?
Of course, the social model has cushioned the shock.
But some sections of the population remained in the background, especially young people under 25.
Hence the demand from a number of associations and unions for a young RSA.
The level of student grants should also have been urgently increased.
You show that the socio-political consequences of inequalities are real: those who are victims reject institutions and vote more in the extremes.
But are successive governments aware of the political risk they run in letting them prosper?
No, moreover the government minimized the crisis of "yellow vests" at its beginning, thinking that it would only be flash in the pan.
Yet it lasted for months.
And the elites sometimes indulge in class contempt, by mocking "France which smokes cigarettes and drives on diesel" as Benjamin Griveaux said in 2018, when he was government spokesperson.
Or when Emmanuel Macron spoke of "people who are nothing" at the start of his five-year term.
Yet there is a real political risk in not responding to social insecurity.
We have also seen that in 2017, 55% of young people voted for the extreme left or the extreme right.
And the story might not end there ...
Louis Maurin, March 4, 2021. - O.Juszczak / 20 Minutes
You still point out some progress of our social model in recent years ...
Yes, there was the creation of the CMU (universal health coverage) in 2000, certain social minima intended for disabled or elderly people were raised, the High Authority for Combating Discrimination was created in 2004 ...
What other measures should be taken to improve the situation?
Establishing a single income of 900 euros per month for a single person without income would eradicate great poverty and would cost 7 billion per year.
This is about 150 euros more than the RSA and the APL and young people under 25 years of age would have access to it.
We should also increase the taxation of fixed-term contracts, reform the tax system and the education system ...
Will companies one day act to reduce the wage pyramid, or is it totally utopian?
This seems difficult to achieve in times of crisis and because of the crumbling of unions.
To achieve this, unemployment would have to drop massively, which would reverse the balance of power between employees and business leaders.
In your opinion, each of us can fight inequalities at our own level.
How? 'Or' What ?
By opposing certain hate speeches and discriminations, by getting involved in associations to help people in difficulty and more broadly in all those who keep social ties alive (culture, leisure, sports, etc.).
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*
Even more!
Investigation of these privileged people who never have enough,
Louis Maurin, Plon editions, 235 pages, 20 euros.
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