“France which is going badly, we find it everywhere”, underlines Louis Maurin, director of the Observatory of inequalities. Its annual report on poverty in France, unveiled on Tuesday, indeed describes a fairly fragmented geography of poverty. This shows that the 4.8 million most disadvantaged people (who receive less than 940 euros per month for a single person*) live in large cities (36.5%), or nearby in the suburbs (26. 4%). Next come those who live in peri-urban areas (30.7%) and rural areas (6.4%).
If large towns are home to a high proportion of disadvantaged people, it is in particular due to the fact that they have numerous social housing units: “From the 1960s onwards, the large towns which had the means made a massive effort to build large housing estates that have attracted the most disadvantaged categories”, emphasizes Louis Maurin. In addition, the Solidarity and Urban Renewal (SRU) law promulgated in 2000 required large municipalities to have 25% social housing on their territory. This has had an impact on the social composition of these cities. “Some who had not done this work in favor of social diversity have caught up,” underlines Louis Maurin.
Five towns in Reunion heavily affected by poverty
Admittedly, the most disadvantaged French people do not have access to social housing. And even if the surge in rents in private housing has hit the big cities hard, many poor people continue to live there. But they have access to smaller and lower quality housing than 20 years ago. “Employment is very concentrated in the big cities, draining many young people looking for work”, comments Louis Maurin. Many poor immigrants who arrive in France also settle there. “Because they often join a community there”, underlines the director of the Observatory of inequalities?
Cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants concentrating the most poor are located overseas. Five towns in Réunion top the list of towns with the highest poverty rate (44 or 45%): Saint-Benoît, Le Port, Saint-Louis, Saint-André and Saint-Joseph. “These territories are undermined by a very high unemployment rate and by the high cost of living syndrome,” underlines Louis Maurin. But there is also Roubaix (North) which has a poverty rate of 43%. And this because of the deindustrialization of the city which has caused unemployment to explode there.
Particularly underprivileged neighborhoods
This geography of poverty also shows that poverty is concentrated in certain neighborhoods of large cities. Like the “Nicea social residence” district in Nice, the one called “Pous du Plan” in Carprentras, or the “Bas Vernet former Zus” located in Perpignan. Neighborhoods where young people, single-parent families and immigrants are overrepresented. And where the share of inhabitants without a diploma sometimes exceeds 50%. Unemployment and precarious work are therefore more widespread there.
Regarding suburban towns, those of Ile-de-France are very affected by poverty: this is the case of Grigny (Essonne), Clichy-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint- Denis) and La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis). “The lack of jobs and public or private services further complicate the living conditions of these people,” observes Louis Maurin.
The harmful effects of the concentration of poverty
In rural areas, if poverty is less severe, “it is sometimes more lasting there”, observes the Observatory of inequalities. In particular because it is experienced by retirees with meager resources, who have little hope of seeing their financial situation improve.
In the end, this table shows that if poverty is distilled in many French territories, it is often concentrated in certain pockets. A concentration that is harmful: “It weighs in particular on the success of children because the schooling of many low-level children who accumulate social difficulties makes their learning more difficult”, underlines Louis Maurin. A way of emphasizing once again the importance of city policies.