Catholic aid: 48% of households received have an insufficient budget for food

“These people don’t live, they survive,” said Véronique Devise, president of Secours Catholique. In its annual report on poverty, the association indicated that almost half of the households that applied for its help last year in France have insufficient budget to feed themselves on a daily basis.

The median income of people helped by Secours Catholique – which “they are constantly calculating”, according to the president – stood at 548 euros per month in 2021.

Rent, electricity bill, insurance: pre-committed expenses absorb on average about 60% of the income of these households in a precarious situation, stresses the association.

If we take into account other “practically incomprehensible” expenses such as repayment of debts or transport costs, 48% of the households hosted by Secours Catholique have a subsistence subsidy of less than five euros a day and per person, that is, of 0.5 to one euro less compared to the period before the health crisis.

“With this you have to buy food, hygiene products, get dressed,” describes the Secours Catholique in its report, which estimates the minimum expenditure on food at seven euros a day and per person.

Growing concern about inflation

Secours Catholique, which is calling for a revaluation of the RSA, is also concerned about the effects of inflation on the lives of these households, who are already faced with “impossible choices”, such as favoring paying bills or buying food.

“These families are already doing a lot to reduce their electricity and gas consumption, how are they going to do” given the 15% price increase expected for next year? asked the president of the association.

Secours Catholique welcomed 938,000 people in France in 2021, who were able to benefit from various services, such as food aid or social support.

Single mothers represent a quarter of the households found, a proportion three times higher than in the general population, stresses the association.

Many single men, often unemployed or inactive, also attended the association: they represent 22.4% of the households interviewed.

On the rise in the last ten years, the proportion of people of foreign nationality stood at 50% of the people received last year.