This is a particularly dramatic statistic that sounds the alarm on the extreme precariousness in France. More than 2,000 children are forced to sleep on the streets, according to Unicef France and the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS) who are concerned this Thursday about the “disastrous” consequences of a childhood without a roof over their heads.
“It is unacceptable, we cannot accept that a society treats its children in this way,” complains the representative of the UN agency in France, Adeline Hazan, denouncing a “flagrant violation of the principles of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child” ratified by France. “We are very, very concerned to see that, far from improving, the situation is getting worse year after year, it is a tragedy when we know the disastrous consequences both in terms of mental health and education.”
UNICEF denounces “short-term” policies
According to the barometer data, at least 2,043 children – including 467 under the age of 3 – remained without a housing solution during the night of August 19 to 20 following their family’s request to 115, the emergency number for homeless people. This is less than the 3,000 children who were counted in October 2023, but it is an unprecedented figure for this back-to-school period, up 3% compared to August 2023, 27% compared to 2022 and 120% compared to 2020.
This increase “illustrates a systematic failure of accommodation and housing policies”, according to the two organisations, which highlight “short-term” policies and “harmful directions”, from the “anti-squat law to the reduction of APL”, including the “unravelling of the SRU law”, which imposes social housing quotas on cities. “Alarming”, the figure of 2,000 is also largely underestimated, insist Unicef France and the FAS – the barometer does not take into account those who have given up calling 115, children living in shanty towns or squats or unaccompanied minors.
Teenagers exposed to prostitution
Far from being new, the situation of children on the streets in France reached a new milestone this summer in Lyon, where several women found themselves homeless with their newborns. The government, recalls FAS president Pascal Brice, had nevertheless made a commitment in 2022 – that of ensuring that there would be no more children on the streets – “a commitment that we are still waiting for”.
However, time is running out to change this situation. “From the moment we don’t have a home, we can’t go to school in good conditions, we can’t get medical care in good conditions. The child’s development doesn’t come out of it unscathed,” explains Adeline Hazan. And “as for adolescents, they are exposed to risks of trafficking, prostitution when they live on the street.”