En Belgium, Johan tells me: “As soon as they know where you’re from, it’s over. They don’t even look at your cover letter. » The man in his fifties knows that employers reject his applications as soon as the address on his CV tells them where he comes from. “Journalists came here and the way they presented our neighborhood gave it a bad name. Employers close the door in our face, without explanation. » Other people like Johan join the conversation and report similar experiences or silently nod.
The experiences of these people – the attitudes of contempt, the condescending remarks of social workers and doctors, the mistrust expressed by landlords or employers – are all examples of discrimination for social insecurity. These negative attitudes and behaviors towards people living in poverty are part of their daily experience. They prevent women from fully exercising their rights, whether to access health care, rent an apartment or find a job.
Discrimination for social insecurity is common in the labor market. In France, testing conducted in 2013 by ATD Fourth Worldshowed that applicants were less likely to be selected when their application indicated a stay in a residential center or a work-integration company, two indicators indicating precariousness.
In the United States, employers often refuse to consider applications from people living in centers for the homeless. In low-wage sectors, employers are less inclined to hire candidates living in areas farther from the workplace, fearing that these candidates will be less available, which is often the case for people living in poverty.
People who become invisible
Finally, companies are often hesitant to hire candidates who have been unemployed for long periods, because the bosses wrongly perceive them as lacking motivation.
This discrimination perpetuates poverty. They deprive people in poverty of their right to work. They deprive our societies of the talents, skills and knowledge of these people. They reduce the diversity of the world of work and end up cutting off people in poverty from the rest of society: they become invisible.
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