In 2020, the year of the arrival of the coronavirus epidemic, the poverty rate and inequalities in living standards remained stable, according to a first estimate, which highlights the effects of government measures to support the economy. and low-income households, published this Wednesday by INSEE.
Last year, the monetary poverty rate “would” have remained stable, with 14.6% of the population receiving less than the median income, the same rate as in 2019, said the public institute for statistical studies. As for income inequalities – measured by the ratio between the mass of living standards held by the wealthiest 20% and that held by the poorest 20% – they also “remain unchanged”.
The responsible “whatever the cost”
These are preliminary estimates, carried out by “microsimulations”, and not the real poverty rate for 2020, which will not be calculated until in 2022, from fiscal and social data concerning the vast majority of the population. . However, the method used to develop this first estimate has proven its reliability for several years, underlines INSEE.
The stability of the poverty rate can be explained in part by the government policy of “whatever the cost”, estimates the institute. Without the support for partial unemployment and the exceptional aid paid to the most modest, the rate would undoubtedly have increased by 0.6 point. Or even more, since this estimate does not take into account any business failures that would have resulted from a lack of government support.
No increase, but aggravations in some cases
This stability “may be surprising”, given the alarmist forecasts of associations fighting against poverty, observed the director general of the institute, Jean-Luc Tavernier. As of the fall of 2020, some NGOs were anticipating a million additional poor people because of the Covid-19.
Finally, “poverty has undoubtedly intensified, but has not exploded”, summarizes Jean-Luc Tavernier. In other words, the number of poor has not increased, but that does not prevent that “certain situations of poverty have worsened in favor of the crisis”, according to this official, for whom “a single indicator cannot account of a social or economic reality such as poverty ”, which“ is not only monetary ”.