“A real tidal wave of poverty is crashing down over France.”

[blindpig]

“A real tidal wave of poverty is crashing down over France.” – Julien Lauprêtre.

Julien Lauprêtre, the president of Secours populaire (a non-profit association whose aim is to fight poverty and exclusion), declared that the poverty rate revealed by INSEE this Tuesday is clearly lower than the reality. These figures actually date back to 2009 and therefore are not current. The president of Secours populaire is worried by this “tidal wave of poverty” which is crashing down over France. Interview for Humanité.fr

This morning you criticised INSEE’s 2009 figures for being lower than the reality. What does the current situation look like?

Julien Lauprêtre: This morning, Secours populaire received INSEE’s figures on poverty with great interest, and they do indeed reveal the high level of poverty in our country. However, these figures date back to 2009 and, as a result, they are below the reality. All the signs point towards the fact that poverty is growing. On the other hand, although these figures are fact, they don’t cover every aspect. You have to take into account other factors. One French person in two didn’t go on holiday this year. In addition, 39% of French people gave up health care, for financial reasons, care that had been prescribed to them. Lastly, it should be noted that not all French people have access to sport or culture. There is a real tidal wave of poverty crashing down over France. Today our volunteers all came to the same conclusion: poverty has continued growing, no matter which region you look at. There isn’t a single region in France where the situation hasn’t deteriorated.

Which measures have been put in place by the Secours populaire?

Julien Lauprêtre: Today the problems of job insecurity have become problems with society. We have alerted the public authorities that it is affecting young people more and more. In the last few years we have observed a flood of young people coming to our centres. In November, we are organising the “National Conference of Youth Solidarity” which will be held from 24th to 26th November in Nancy. The Secours populaire are trying to get as close as possible to young people, but we can’t solve the problem on our own.

more....

http://www.humaniteinenglish.com/spip.php?article1902

It's all over. So much for the European model mixed economy. Capital cannot help but aggrandize itself, fetters are always transitory, we gotta put it down.

[workinclasszero]

1. When we go down we will take the rest of this greedy world with us

Greed and avarice know no boundaries. The banksters in every country have killed the world economy and they could care less.

Now they think they can take the taxpayer bailout $$$ and head for the hills while the 99% starve to death.

I don't think thats gonna work out to well for em.

[blindpig]

2. It's the Capitalism. n/t

[leftstreet]

3. It's not greed. If your car's engine requires gas to run, do you call it greedy?

Capitalism is simply a shitty system that requires the grinding up of the working class to fuel the ruling class

[formercia]

5. There's really no place to run to any more except to Saudi Arabia or Belarus.

Real garden spots.

[leftstreet]

4. K&R

[JDPriestly]

6. Is that the L'Humanite that was the Communist paper?

The French are not going on vacations? They still get probably a month vacation a year.

They don't have health care? They have public health care. I do not believe the article, and I do not trust the source. Besides there are no statistics beyond half of the French not taking vacations.

France used to be far more agrarian than it is today. Being poor in a city is more miserable than being poor on the land.

[blindpig]

7. Well, the link is to L'Humanite......

and why should that matter?

[IndyPragmatist]

11. Would you feel the same way if the link were to Fox News or the Heritage Foundation?

People lie to make their point, and it seems like the author of this article is lying or stretching the truth quite a bit.

[JDPriestly]

13. Yes. I would be just as suspicious.

[Yo_Mama]

15. I doubt it - try this link

http://www.europ-assistance.com/sites/default/files/cp-barosante-en.pdf

In France, 29% of the French declare having postponed or renounced medical treatment due to financial
difficulties during the past year. They were 23% in 2010 and 11% in 2009. Out of the ten countries included in the
barometer, only Poland, with 36% of citizens having postponed or renounced medical treatment, presents a rate of
renunciation of treatment greater than that of France.

In France, these postponements concerned dental treatment and glasses in three quarters of cases.

This survey covers multiple countries. Here's a brief explanation of the public health care system:
http://www.understandfrance.org/Paris/Sick.html
Note reimbursement at 80% for standard care.

On edit: this is a really long article (but recent). You have to come up with 22 Euro to visit the doctor:
http://patrickmorvan.over-blog.com/article-36642136.html

Deductibles don’t exist in France, at least in the base schemes (layer 1). Copays are used, but they are so low that they do not deter people from going to the doctor. For example, a visit to a GP (who has been declared as the patient’s “preferred physician”) costs EUR 22.00. The State-run health insurance, or Assurance Maladie, reimburses 70 % of this amount, and the patient pays a 30% co-pay (referred to in France as the ticket modérateur) or EUR 6.60. In 2004, France required all patients to pay an additional contribution of EUR 1.00, bringing the patient’s total co-pay to EUR 7.60. The patient thus pays a general physician EUR 22.00, and the Assurance Maladie reimburses him EUR 22.00 - 7.60, or a total of EUR 14.40. That, however, is where the problem lies: patients are often reimbursed the amount of the co-pay if they have private insurance (as we saw previously, this represents 92 % of the population). Thus, a patient who paid EUR 22.00 for a doctor’s visit will be reimbursed by social security, and by his private insurance, for a total amount of EUR 21.00

[blindpig]

16. Thanks, Mom.

:hi:

[uppityperson]

10. Those are my thoughts reading that also. Yes, people are struggling, fuel is rising causing

food costs to raise, there is difficulty finding jobs, so forth. But I don't understand the "don't have health care" as there is public health care. No statistics for "not going on vacations" either.

I'd like to see another source or statistics proving their assertions.

[dkf]

8. Only half went on vacation and not everyone has access to sports or culture.

Poverty sure sucks.

[blindpig]

14. So the masses should be satisfied with their diminishing lot....

while the wealthy go from uber wealth to super uber wealth?

Don't think so.

[xchrom]

9. Recommend

[uppityperson]

12. Another article, low income people have free health care...

I am searching for other articles that confirm or don't, that might have some statistics to show what the OP is saying.

http://www.euractiv.com/priorities/eu-2020-poverty-goals-will-have-no-impact-france-news-474468

(clip)

Her attitude may be explained by France's own national laws on poverty reduction, which are among the most ambitious in Europe and outstrip the Europe 2020 targets.

This fact was highlighted by François Soulage, France's ambassador to the 2010 European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion, who told EurActiv France that "the poverty reduction target of 25% contained in the Europe 2020 strategy will have no impact in France".
(clip)

But there is more to poverty reduction measures than income supplements and minimum income policies. Rights were also created, such as the right to accommodation in 1990. Likewise in 1999, the Couverture Maladie Universelle (CMU) enabled people with low incomes to receive free health care.

How many French citizens can be considered poor? In 2007, the EU monetary poverty rate - which measures the proportion of people living on below 60% of average income levels - was around 16%. France's rate is slightly below this, at around 13%...(more)

[blindpig]

17. kick