Volunteers from Restos du Cœur during a distribution to students, at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, in the south of France, March 26, 2021 (AFP/Archives/Nicolas TUCAT)
After eight months of successive postponements, the government unveils its new strategy to combat poverty on Monday, a plan that is particularly anticipated in a context of high inflation but whose associations fear the lack of ambition.
The main axes of this “Solidarity Pact” are already known: prevention of poverty from childhood, return to employment, fight against great exclusion and measures so that the ecological transition does not weigh too heavily on the most deprived.
Other components are also planned to combat the stigmatization of the poorest, adapt public policies to certain rural areas or overseas, or simplify relations with associations.
Scalded by the various postponements of a plan which was initially to be presented last January, the associations are cautious about its content, with certain actors fearing a catalog of measures already known.
The president of the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS) Pascal Brice, in Paris, September 21, 2021 (AFP/Archives/Thomas SAMSON)
“The government must show that it is aware of what is happening in terms of poverty and precariousness,” declares the president of the Federation of Solidarity Actors (FAS), Pascal Brice.
“It is decisive, this September 18. We expect a lot, even if we do not currently have signals that show enormous ambition,” adds the general delegate of the Abbé Pierre Foundation, Christophe Robert.
Among the measures already announced and which could appear in the pact, the creation of a “colo pass” for CM2 children, the opening of middle schools in Rep and Rep+ from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. – including for students who have finished their courses or waiting to start them – to “fight against educational inequality”, or even the creation of 200,000 nursery places by 2030.
– “Insufficient” measures –
“Zero non-recourse territories”, aimed at detecting users who do not request social benefits even though they are entitled to them, could also be part of the pact, as could the second five-year “Housing First” plan, of which The objective is to help homeless people find housing.
Photo taken on September 20, 2017 of a sign indicating “Studio for Rent” on the facade of a university residence in the city of Montpellier (AFP/Archives/PASCAL GUYOT)
Measures which go “in the right direction” but judged “largely insufficient” by associations fighting against precariousness, which call in particular for an increase in social minimums, an increase in housing assistance (APL), an end to closures of places in emergency accommodation or the regularization of undocumented workers in sectors in tension.
Poverty affects some 9.2 million people, or nearly 15% of the French population according to INSEE – the poverty threshold is set at 60% of the population’s median standard of living. More than one in 10 people cut corners on heating, food, various products and services.
In this context, also marked by high inflation, requests are pouring in from food aid distributors, leading associations to the brink of collapse, such as the Restos du Cœur which raised a cry of alarm at the beginning of September.
Launched in 2018 and allocated 8 billion euros over four years, the previous anti-poverty plan contained several measures including “mixed bonuses” for daycare centers welcoming more disadvantaged children in disadvantaged neighborhoods, breakfasts free schooling in priority zones or even the creation of a “universal activity income”, which never saw the light of day.
© 2023 AFP
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