Siam Spencer 10:08 a.m., February 16, 2022
The Defender of Rights, Claire Hénon, issued a report on Tuesday on the dematerialization of public services.
Among the key figures: a quarter of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 indicate that they have encountered difficulties in carrying out their online procedures on their own.
Difficulties that these young people explain by the lack of interlocutors and counters to accompany them in their first steps.
This is 14 points more than the average user of public services: a quarter of young French citizens believe they have difficulty doing their online procedures according to the latest report from the Defender of Rights.
Contrary to what one might think, for young people, even those who are very comfortable with digital technology, doing the steps online is an ordeal.
Difficulties encountered due to lack of direct interlocutors and support according to Lucie, 23 years old.
This young plastic arts student struggled to apply for housing assistance from the CAF.
On the website, she makes several CAF simulations: the sentence falls, she is not eligible for aid.
She decides not to go any further and it is only a few months later that the mother of a friend, an employee of the CAF, will explain to her how to complete her file.
Lucie, who assures that she would have "liked to have help and to have more human relations in the end" to simply be aware that she was entitled to housing allowances.
Complicated services to get on the phone
Julie, a 19-year-old student, had some setbacks with her CROUS scholarship application.
She tried for several months to get in touch with the organization, which is very difficult to reach: “It's always a bit complicated because we try to call them and we don't necessarily have them on the phone.
There is no longer any human relationship side that our parents had, and I think it's a shame” regrets the student.
Less tracking than previous generations
According to the report issued by the Defender of Rights, who wonders about the progress since the last report, 3 years ago, "it has always been complicated for young citizens to carry out administrative procedures which until then were the responsibility of their parents".
Parents who when they entered adult life were accompanied at the time by public service personnel.
This is less the case for these young people who sometimes feel left to their own devices and develop a form of solidarity between them, as Marine, 22, explains: "You ask other older students who have already done these papers. It's really by relay and it's not the institutions that help us."
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Digital inclusion: mixed progress
The Defender of Rights believes that investments have been made to improve inclusion.
Nevertheless, some users remain marginalized.
Three years after the first report was published, and despite the actions taken following the Defender of Rights' thirty-five recommendations, the State's concerns have materialized.
In 2021, nearly 80% of households residing in urban and peri-urban areas will be covered by fiber compared to only 30% in rural and mountain areas.
Nearly a quarter of French people have the feeling of living in a territory neglected by the public authorities, 22% of people do not have a computer or a tablet at home.
Even more impressive, 15% of French people do not have an internet connection at home.
Half-hearted progress that applies an overall logic that still amounts to making, even today, "weigh on the user the burden of adapting to the digital transformation of public services", can we read in the report on the dematerialization of public services.