Last year in France, 14.6% of the population was living below the poverty line, a level similar to that of 2019. Public aid played its role as a buffer by helping to reduce income inequalities and monetary poverty.
This observation should fuel debates in this pre-election period, which is already marked by the issue of purchasing power.
Even as the Covid epidemic was at its peak in 2020, the poverty rate did not increase. In France, last year, 14.6% of the population was living below the poverty line, just as in 2019, according to the estimate published this Wednesday by Insee.
In other words, 9.3 million people had an income 60% below the median income.
According to Insee, the support measures implemented by the government to counteract the impact of the health crisis, especially for the most vulnerable, played their role as a buffer. They significantly contributed to reducing income inequalities and monetary poverty last year.
