An indicator of growing precariousness in France. More than a quarter of the people welcomed by Secours catholique last year were without resources, a record level. The median income of households hosted by the association stood at 555 euros per month in 2023, notes the association in its annual report unveiled this Thursday, November 14. In total, 95% of the households met lived below the poverty line, which is set at 1,216 euros for a single person.
Important point of this report: 25.4% of them had no resources, a figure «record»up two points compared to 2022. They are trying to “survive thanks to the resourcefulness and support of those who are able to help them”. This precariousness is notably the translation of “the distance from the solidarity produced by the administration itself”estimates the association, which last year welcomed more than a million people, including 216,000 families with children.
It thus alerts on “the difficulty in accessing social protection in the face of the dematerialization of administrative procedures», implemented a decade ago and which has accelerated since 2017. Thus, 13% of households encountered in 2023 expressed a need for help to carry out such procedures, an increase of 7 points in ten years. These audiences come up against “sites made by the administration and for the administration”, explains the president of Secours catholique, Didier Duriez. “Those who don’t have access to the internet, those who don’t understand” what is asked of them, nor how to navigate the administrative twists and turns, are the most penalized.
Fear of stigma
Ultimately, a certain number of people do not receive the aid to which they are entitled. For example, more than a third of French households eligible for Active Solidarity Income (36.1%) encountered by Secours catholique do not request it, a proportion increasing by more than 13 points in a decade. Regarding family allowances, almost a quarter of eligible households do not receive them, a share up by almost 10 points since 2010.
In addition to the lack of knowledge or discouragement faced with the difficulty of carrying out the process, the fear of being stigmatized explains the non-use of these social benefits. “The more we say in the media, at the level of political authorities, that these people are on welfare and that it costs crazy money», plus “it does incredible damage,” assures Didier Duriez.
The decline in access to certain rights is also the result of “tightening of eligibility criteria” to certain aid, such as the minimum old age, unemployment benefits and RSA, affirms Secours catholique. “If you don’t check the boxes” or that “you are a little bit outside the box that is planned”, the risk is to enter into a «no man’s land» where it can take up to several months before being able to obtain a response from the administration, warns the president of the association. To remedy this situation, Secours catholique is asking to guarantee physical access to administrations and the establishment of a “public policy to combat non-recourse”.
Source: www.liberation.fr
