For many years, everything was going well for Denise, 49, a caregiver and mother of three grown children. And then, in 2021, while returning from shopping, she fell, suffering a stroke. She then wakes up in the hospital with right-sided hemiplegia. After three months of rehabilitation, she was sent home, with, in particular, difficulty speaking and using her right arm, and could no longer work. “That’s where the nightmare began”she remembers. To renew her sick leave, Denise must contact Social Security, with the help of her daughter-in-law because she has difficulty articulating. “Every time we managed to get someone, they were not aware of the situation. » It will take a month for Denise to receive her daily allowance.
But, while she was in hospital, her social landlord sent her an income questionnaire which she was unable to complete. Without a response, the HLM company applied a large additional rent. Denise, who in the meantime has been placed on disability, going from €2,500 salary to €1,400 pension, then begins to accumulate unpaid rent. When she received €3,900 from the departmental center for disabled people, she used it to pay her debts. Before learning that, as she is recognized as disabled, she should not have requested a disabled allowance… CAF is therefore demanding a reimbursement from her while EDF, whose bill has skyrocketed because she lives in a damp house where the cold increases his pain, sends him formal notices.
An obstacle course
“I fell into depression”says Denise soberly, who, overdrawn on her bank account, explains that she no longer has enough money to feed herself. “But for food aid, you have to go through a social worker. The one I went to see in June never called me back and when I returned in September, I learned that she was on sick leave. »
Like Denise, the majority of people supported by Secours catholique, which publishes its annual report on poverty on November 14, depend on social assistance for their survival. “Among the French households we support, 94% receive aid, and it makes up around 82% of their income, explains Jean Merckaert, action and advocacy director of Secours catholique. The solidarity system is therefore an essential element of protection against poverty. But what we see in this report is that people increasingly have to go through a real obstacle course to access it. »
You must first have access to the information to verify your eligibility. However, whether it concerns the conditions of legal residence (for the RSA), contribution (for unemployment insurance), resources or family composition (for the solidarity allowance for the elderly) or the reduction in support (sickness, housing allowance), the report lists the recent restrictions made to the various benefits.
Completely dematerialized procedures
You must then be able to make your request, and complete it whenever your situation changes. And whereas before, users could bring their documents to an agent, now they have to do everything online. This may require the help of a third party, a social worker or a loved one, who must be found. The task is not simple: “People’s lives do not always fit into the boxes of the administration, resumes Jean Merckaert. If you’re facing a human, we find a solution, if you’re facing a screen, it’s harder. »
Hence errors, which sometimes cause breaches of rights, or on the contrary overpayments, which must be reimbursed. “The CAF discovered that I had overpaid €700 even though I have been in the same situation for two years, testifies, for example, a person who is part of a discussion group on social protection organized by Secours catholique near Metz. They didn’t even inform me, I found out when I received my rent (…) that they had taken away my APL to repay this debt. »“For those who manage to receive aid, it is a real protectioncontinues Jean Merckaert, but for those who have difficulty having them, it is experienced as additional violence which worsens their situation. »
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Poverty in 2023, according to Secours catholique
Varied profiles. Among the million people supported in 2023 by Secours catholique, 52.2% are foreigners (including 70.4% without legal status) and 47.8% are French. More than half (56.7%) are women. A third of the people supported are under 15 years old. Half (51%) are inactive, due to the increase in people unfit for health reasons and single mothers.
Poverty that intensifies. In 2023, 95% of households encountered lived below the poverty line and 74% below the extreme poverty line. Their median standard of living was €555 per month, or €19 less than in 2022. A quarter of households (25.4%) lived without resources, a record.