The objective is to “understanding French society, without trying to darken the picture or embellish it”, warns the Observatory of inequalities in the foreword to its 2023 report on inequalities in France. Published this Thursday, June 8, the document of around 150 pages nevertheless describes the reality of a social divide in a France where “Inequalities between social classes remain acute”. “This report is part of a paradoxical context, with, on the one hand, an improvement in employment since 2015 and, on the other, high inflation and a risk of downgrading for low-skilled employees who are suffering from strong loss of purchasing power”develops Louis Maurin, director of this independent body.
It is still difficult to analyze the effects of this inflation and even those of the crisis due to Covid-19, the data for 2020 having been published but not validated by INSEE because they were collected under degraded conditions. But, according to the report, inequalities have not exploded and the minimum standard of living gap of the richest 10% has remained around 3.28 times higher than the maximum standard of living of the poorest 10% in 2020. On the other hand, wealth inequalities have increased: the wealthiest 10% of households own 47% of all household wealth in 2021 (compared to 41% in 2010).
This social divide is visible from an early age, in primary school. “We have a school system marked by social elitism, which favors the children of graduates more than the others”, denounces Louis Maurin. Between CP and CM2, approximately 70% of pupils with difficulties in French or mathematics improve their results when they belong to a very privileged background, compared to 42% in the opposite extreme. The children of workers are then under-represented in general or technological high school (19%) and on the benches of the university (10%), where the children of executives are three times more numerous. “Higher education has opened up to a greater number of students, but this has benefited the children of executives much more than the children of workers”concludes the report on this topic.
“Building up resentment”
These inequalities are reflected in the world of work: 17% of unskilled workers are unemployed, a rate 4.5 times higher than that of managers. However, it should be noted that this percentage has fallen since 2011. The report notes “a real general improvement” concerning a decrease in the unemployment rate, even if “this result is partly linked to a leap in learning and the creation of low-quality jobs”, he nuances at the same time. For Louis Maurin, the question is above all how this unemployment curve will evolve. “Since the 1980s, we have experienced periods of decline followed by a certain form of recovery. We should expect a significant increase in social tensions if this is the case in the years to come.warns the director.
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