A third of French parents deprive themselves of food to feed their children

While a Cofidis study published at the beginning of the week was considered by some to be provocative in indicating that 23% of French people are not experiencing difficult ends of the month since their purchasing power has increased compared to 2023 – a proportion never seen since the creation of this analysis twelve years ago, the Secours Populaire barometer just released recalls the daily reality of a completely different section of the French population. Those who experience financial difficulties in meeting their basic needs, such as eating.

While the proportion of French people who say they have experienced poverty or are about to experience it reaches 62% (up four points compared to 2023), a significant number of consumers have financial resources that are far too low to fill their plates. Among the parents surveyed, 33% admit to having already deprived themselves even when they were hungry so that their children could eat. This consequence is even regular for 10% of them. At the same time, 30% of French people have difficulty buying healthy food to follow a nutritionally balanced diet. This is particularly the case for residents of so-called medium-sized cities (36%), which do not correspond to the suburbs or large cities. Unfortunately, logically, very low-income households who earn less than 1,200 euros per month are 61% to experience this daily (up 4 points). For example, buying fruit and vegetables is a real financial effort to eat them every day; This is the case for 38% of respondents. In the end, 32% of French people cannot eat three meals a day.

We must therefore imagine a daily life that is difficult to manage, because food is not the only area of ​​deprivation. While 38% of French people admit to having difficulty paying their rent or repaying their mortgage, almost half (47%) have difficulty paying their energy bills. As for health care, these are additional expenses that are difficult to integrate into the family budget when the reimbursements provided by social security are not optimal for 43% of respondents. All that remains is to pay for all the expenses related to children, whether it be the canteen, clothing or school supplies. These are financial headaches for 45% of French people while 39% also have difficulty meeting their transport costs. Ultimately, according to the opinions collected by this annual barometer, a single person must have 1,396 euros per month to not be considered poor.

*This study was conducted among 996 people, a representative sample of the French population aged 16 and over, interviewed from May 24 to 26, 2024.