The budget of the most precarious is scrutinized by Secours Catholique Caritas France in its latest national report which says a lot about the state of poverty in France. The charity claims to have met in 2021 “nearly 1 million people, half of whom are children”.

“The profiles encountered by our teams (60,000 volunteers in France) are single mothers (25.2%), single men (22.4%), couples with children (21.7%), single women ( 18.2%) often older”.

The Haute-Garonne department – ​​and the city of Toulouse which has dozens of families with street children – is not spared by the phenomenon which mainly affects people living with a median standard of living of 548 euros per month. , “or half the poverty line”, specifies the Secours Catholique.

8,000 people helped in Haute-Garonne

The Haute-Garonne/Ariège branch of Secours Catholique, which has 800 volunteers, supported 8,000 people in 2021 in fifty reception areas.

“In Toulouse, we welcome many families with children who no longer have accommodation, apart from a few hotel stays, the situations are extremely tense, explains the delegate of the local branch Lydie Carloux-Yog. Many families with young children who have no solution for housing, for me, this is an unprecedented situation in Toulouse. We hope it won’t last, but on the social watch of 115, there are no more places. »

Food, the first step

Secours Catholique’s food services help to gauge the state of the beneficiaries’ condition. “Food insecurity is very high at the moment, especially since the rise in the price of basic necessities, adds Lydie Carloux-Yog. In our office on rue du Raisin in Toulouse, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., we welcome 30% more people this year. Food is the first step, but behind it, the issues are quite different”.

At the national level, Secours Catholique ensures that “the poorest face impossible choices: eat or pay the rent, 32% live in precarious housing”. It is then the descent into hell.

A basic need to listen

“Warm up or move around? With each crisis, an additional problem, with each crisis, its lowest representatives, note the volunteers of Secours Catholique. Pre-committed expenses (rent, bills, insurance, etc.) absorb 60% of the income of precarious households, compared to 30% for all households living in France. They have 5 euros left per day and per person to cover food, hygiene and leisure expenses for the children”.

The fact remains that for the association, “the first need is listening (59%), because isolated poverty and the stubborn prejudices rejected by those who do not face shame”.