On November 3, after three semesters marked by confinement and a historic recession, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) launched a paving stone in the pond: according to the calculations of statisticians, the crisis linked to the pandemic of Covid-19 has not increased poverty in France, nor has it increased inequalities. With 14.6% of the population affected, i.e. 9.3 million poor, the monetary poverty rate in France, established as an income below 60% of the median income, i.e. 1,102 euros for a person living alone in 2020, has even eroded slightly since 2019.
An observation opposite to that formulated during the crisis by the associative world in particular, which spoke of 1 million people impoverished by the crisis. In a blog note attached to the publication of this figure, Jean-Luc Tavernier, director general of INSEE, put forward several elements to clarify this divergence. First of all methodological elements. People living in communities, for example, are not included in the scope of the monetary poverty survey.
This is particularly the case of students who live in university campuses, hostels or other residences, and who have been particularly affected by the crisis due to the disappearance of odd jobs. But the most convincing explanation may lie in the differences in the assessment of poverty. As Mr. Tavernier himself points out, “A single indicator cannot on its own account for a social or economic reality such as poverty: it is not only monetary”.
Nine dimensions identified
For decades, associations or international organizations such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) have been saying that poverty does not only reflect a lack or absence of income. It also results from housing conditions, physical and mental health, social life of individuals, their unequal access to culture, leisure, and civic life.
The National Council for Policies to Fight Poverty and Social Exclusion (CNLE), which was appointed on 1er April by the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, to carry out a qualitative follow-up of the evolution of poverty in France, had concluded in his report, delivered on May 12 following, that poverty “Multiplied” in France, taking on different faces depending on the situation and the individual.
Other criteria should be taken into account: material and rights deprivation; fears and suffering; deterioration of physical and mental health; social abuse; institutional abuse; isolation …
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