The fall in unemployment has not led to a fall in poverty in France

The decline in unemployment does not imply a decline in poverty. This is what the National Council for Policies to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion (CNLE), a body responsible for assisting the government in its field of expertise, found in a study published this week. While the unemployment rate fell from 10.3% to 7.3% between 2015 and 2022, the income poverty rate, defined as the proportion of people earning less than 60% of the median income, increased very slightly from 14.2% to 14.4%, according to data collected by the CNLE's scientific committee.

The rate of material and social deprivation bears witness to this, rising from 12.1% to 13.1% of the population over the period. This indicator measures the proportion of people who cannot cover at least five daily expenses from a list of thirteen. These include owning a personal car, heating their home, affording a week's vacation, or engaging in regular leisure activities.

The proportion of people who consider themselves poor increased sharply over the period, from 12.4% to 18.7%. The feeling of poverty has gained ground among the 20% of the population with the lowest living standards, but also in the second quintile, the study notes. "Feedback from those on the ground converges on a diagnosis of rising tensions and aggressiveness in society, particularly linked to the dematerialization of access to rights and the inadequacy of aid scales to needs, including for people in employment," notes the chair of the scientific committee, Muriel Pucci.

The CNLE has identified three main reasons for the disconnect between the evolution of unemployment and that of poverty: some of the jobs created have not led to an exit from poverty, the deterioration of the situation of inactive retirees or disabled people, and a standard of living of the most modest households which has progressed less than the monetary poverty threshold.

The poverty rate among retirees has been rising since 2017 and will reach 10.8% in 2022, while unlike previously, the pension of new retirees has been "slightly lower than that of all retirees" since 2017, according to the study.

The CNLE is composed of the main institutional and associative actors involved in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. It is responsible for providing advice to the government, ensuring consultation between the various actors, and establishing monitoring indicators.