Medical deserts, lack of perspective for young people, devitalization of city centers… The "territories" are not spared by the Covid-19 epidemic.
In the eleventh episode of the "Les Éclaireurs" podcast, Matthieu Belliard takes the time to question Salomé Berlioux, president of the "Chemins d'avenirs" association and author of several books on "peripheral France".
She explains to us that thousands of rural young people have not been able to access training because of the coronavirus and that the ingredients are there for a new crisis to erupt, such as that of "yellow vests".
The coronavirus crisis has exacerbated the inequalities between large cities and their suburbs on one side and "peripheral" France, that of the countryside and suburban areas, which concentrates nearly 80% of the working classes.
In rural areas, hospitals are far away, beds fewer and the saturation rate much faster.
Millions of rural youth have also been unable to access training because of the coronavirus.
They struggle to project themselves.
Their future is unclear.
But who are we talking about when we talk about "peripheral France"?
How has the crisis accentuated already strong inequalities?
In the eleventh episode of the "Les Éclaireurs" podcast, Matthieu Belliard once again takes the time to listen to the world change.
With his guest, Salomé Berlioux, president of the association "Chemins d'avenirs" and author of several books on "peripheral France", the presenter of the morning of Europe 1 wonders about this country France already weakened since years and still undermined by the coronavirus crisis.
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Three ideas to remember to take the time to listen to the world change
Some young people have stopped their studies because of the Coronavirus.
(to listen from 3'47) Young people in rural areas were worried about their future before the crisis.
"Now they are even more so," said Salomé Berlioux.
"Concretely, it is a young person who loses the possibility of having a small job during the Easter holidays and during the summer. That means that she will not be able to go to university because she will not be able to finance your home, ”she explains.
She also says that "some parents have decided not to send their children to general and technological second at the following school year because of the coronavirus. Why? Because the school is an hour away and because they do not know no what September will be ".
“Another example: families have decided to have their child repeat their year at the end of the third grade. It was too anxiety-provoking to send him to high school, because in these areas, the establishment is far away. These families fear to send their son or daughter at 14 or 15 to boarding school an hour from home while the crisis may still be there ".
Farmers have also suffered from the crisis.
(to listen from 9'17) At the height of the crisis, "there were many farmers who were able to do well thanks to the short circuits (...) But there are also all those who did not have this possibility ", underlines Salomé Berlioux who recalls that overall," the farmers who had their children at home had to work twice as much. They had less labor and in particular "skilled work. It was therefore more expensive to have to train people with lower results. They had to take care of the crops, their asparagus, their strawberries. They were the only ones to take care of the animals. All that with a daily newspaper. constrained, in particular on the economic and social plan ".
The France of second homes is not peripheral France!
(to listen from 11'38) With the crisis, life in the countryside has been idealized by part of the population, but be careful ... "We imply that the Parisians, the Bordelais, the Lyonnais who would have become aware of the difficulty of living in a large metropolis will go and settle in a hamlet in the Vosges, Nièvre or Ain. It is clear that this is not quite the case, "points out Salomé Berlioux.
"The France of second homes, whether in Noirmoutier, Île de Ré, Aix-en-Provence, is not peripheral France. It has nothing to do with the heart of Moulins, Nevers , Charleville-Mézières, Verdun. And to say it, it is absolutely not to show miserabilism with regard to the territories of peripheral France. On the other hand, these people want and need that we recognize the particular difficulties of their territories and therefore their daily lives, and that we do not mix everything up ".
"Les Éclaireurs" is a Europe 1 studio podcast
Presentation: Matthieu Belliard
Line-up: Juliette Bergé
Director: Jean Lénaff (with Xavier Jolly)
Editorial project manager: Fannie Rascle
Distribution and editing: Clémence Olivier
Graphics: Karelle Villais
Director of Europe 1 Studio: Olivier Lendresse