“He can’t take it anymore.” Hit hard by the increase in operating costs, the reduction of subsidies and the late payment of funds, the associative world is on the verge of collapse. Support for the most precarious, defense of women’s rights, access to sport… Associations in all sectors see their finances deteriorate, according to the Associative Movement, which has 700,000 affiliated organizations. For the first time, the organization calls for mobilization this Saturday to challenge public authorities. Demonstrations are planned throughout France, including one in Paris, at 2 p.m. in Stalingrad Square.
Samira El Alaoui, director of the association that fights against exclusion “The Children of the Canal”, evokes a “very stressful” situation: “we no longer have liquidity” and “there is no visibility” on the payment of the balance of the subsidies granted by the State, after having received a deposit in May, she laments. Their amount has been maintained but, with “the increase in salaries and rents”, they remain insufficient to guarantee the functioning of the Ile-de-France structure, which employs 70 people and manages, in particular, accommodation centres. For example, it is impossible to carry out the renovation works necessary to reallocate certain apartments. And if money doesn’t arrive by mid-October, the association will stop making payments.
The “inflationary crisis” increases costs
Around 30% of employers’ associations have less than three months of cash reserves, according to a survey conducted in September by the Associative Movement.
According to her, approximately 1.5 million associations operating in France are suffering from an “inflationary crisis” that is increasing their costs. They are also victims of the “budgetary crisis” of public powers, which limits their support. On the part of the Government, the former minister responsible for associational life, Marie Barsacq, had assured several times this year that she was “fully mobilized” to continue “preserving the means” of the associations. But uncertainty persists over the content of the next budget. As for the communities, due to the lack of financial room for maneuver, they reduce, sometimes drastically, the subsidies they grant.
Social cost
This leads associations to reduce or eliminate certain activities. In Dijon, the “Solidarity Dignity Accompaniment Travail” (SDAT) program put an end to several social integration programs this year, including one dedicated to forty young people in crisis. “We are having a bad time, it is not normal, the needs are there,” emphasizes Brice Morey, director of the structure that depends 90% on public funds. “We try to limit the damage by transferring people to other systems, even if they are less suitable.” This reduction in resources has also created a waiting period for new applicants, with the risk of seeing their difficulties increase before receiving support. These “political options” to reduce subsidies “will weigh” first on the “people supported”, but also “in the long term on society”, warns Brice Morey.
In addition to a reduction in activity, these budget reductions lead to job cuts at associations of all sizes. The theater company “Les singuliers associés” plans to eliminate a full-time equivalent of five jobs to ensure its survival. The reduction in aid and the fall in show sales put their accounts in the red.
To “right the situation”, it has just launched “cheaper” versions of its shows, aimed in particular at a “fragile” audience and created with the help of artists who agreed to receive a “minimal remuneration”. “However, we feel that this is just the beginning” of the difficulties, “if we survive 2025, what will happen in 2026?” asks Philippe Demoulin.
Source: BFM TV
