Confinement: more than five million French people live in "overcrowded" housing

Text by: Romain Philips Follow

During this period of confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic, living conditions were uneven. In a study published Tuesday, April 21, INSEE indicates that more than five million French people live in "overcrowded" housing.

Publicity

Depending on where they are and the type of housing in which they live, the French do not experience confinement in the same way. This is revealed by a study published Tuesday, April 21 by INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies). In France, more than five million people live in " overcrowded  " housing  , that is to say in which two or more people live and where the number of rooms is insufficient compared to the number of inhabitants. A situation that impacts "  more than ever the daily  living conditions ", recalls the institute.

Housing overcrowding is a situation "  that we unfortunately know too often  ", believes Jean-Baptiste Eyraud, founder and spokesperson of the association Droit au logement (DAL). For people in overcrowded housing, confinement makes " daily life very difficult and produces intra-family tensions  " .

A situation which can have the consequences "  a tense, difficult family life which will leave traces  ", explains to RFI the founder of DAL. “  Often overcrowding, for low-income households, is accompanied by unsanitary conditions. Two months locked up is long and it can cause irreparable fractures, especially for children,  ”he adds.

The big agglomerations more concerned

In metropolitan France, the Ile-de-France (IDF) and Provence-Alpes Côte d'Azur (PACA) regions are the most affected by the phenomenon of overcrowding. They have, respectively, a rate of 12.7% and 7.5%. In the priority districts of these cities where the poverty rate defined by INSEE is the highest, these figures reach 25.4% in IDF and 18% in PACA and reach 35% in certain districts.

In the overseas departments, where half the population lives in apartments, the overcrowding is "  also very strong,  " notes INSEE. In Guyana, 34.5% of households are affected by the phenomenon against 10.4% in Reunion, 9% in Martinique and 8.7% in Guadeloupe.

More generally, it is agglomerations of more than 100,000 inhabitants that concentrate the most overcrowded housing (74%), including 40% in the Paris region.

Infogram

Isolation, an additional difficulty in confinement

If living with too many people in housing during confinement degrades living conditions, living alone too. Likely to provoke"  Consequences on morale but also on health  ", loneliness affects 10.5 million French people, including 2.4 million who are 75 or over.

Unlike the overcrowding phenomenon, the elderly living alone are more concentrated in central France. They represent 6.2% of the inhabitants of Creuse and more than 5.5% of the inhabitants of Nièvre, Indre, Allier or Corrèze, reports INSEE.

► To listen: Health advice - Containment: how to avoid the feeling of isolation?

Other difficulties, such as poverty or precariousness, make it harder to endure the isolation caused by confinement . 1.7 million single people live below the poverty line in mainland France and 70% of people who receive the disabled adult allowance (AAH), intended for people with disabilities on low incomes, live alone. They therefore find themselves "  particularly isolated in a situation of confinement  " and must "  manage the difficulties (physical or psychological) of everyday life,  " notes the institute.

INSEE recalls, however, that many people were able to join their families when the confinement was announced, "  especially among the elderly and students  ". For some of those who remained alone during confinement, the social bond can be maintained thanks to the internet. But not everyone has this opportunity and on this point also inequalities persist. "  12% of people do not have access to the Internet at home, regardless of the type of device,  " said INSEE.

Our selection on SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

• Listen to Coronavirus Info , daily chronicle on the pandemic

• Explanation:  The origins of the Covid-19

• Analyzes:
→What strategies to face the epidemic ?
→ What impact on conflict zones?

• Practical questions:
→ What we know about the mode of contagion
→ How do we treat the sick ?
→ What results for the ongoing clinical trials?
→How the Institut Pasteur hopes to find a vaccine
→ How to make a mask and use it well

Find all our articles, reports, chronicles and programs on the coronavirus by clicking here .

See also the files of RFI Savoirs  on the Covid-19:
• Birth of a pandemic
• Everyday life to the test
•  The history of epidemics

Newsletter With the Daily Newsletter, find the headlines directly in your mailbox

Follow all international news by downloading the RFI application

• Containment
• Coronavirus
• France
• our selection
• Social issues

On the same subject

Deconfinement in France: the government presents a draft of its strategy

France: students at risk faced with the challenge of confinement

Coronavirus: the advice of a psychiatrist to live well confinement