€1,490 a month to live here
You need to have at least 1,490 euros a month to live in France say French people in a new poll
A SINGLE person needs at least €1,490 euros a month to live in France, according to a new survey of French people.
In Paris, the minimum monthly net income people said they needed rose to €1,620, while those living in more rural areas said they could live on €1,430, the poll of 4,000 people for the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES) revealed.
Even after taking inflation into account, this is €75 more than people believed was needed when they were last polled in 2008.
Executives and professionals put a higher price on their lifestyles, saying they would need an average of €1,560 per person to live, while lower-income households said they would need €1,410.
According to France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), the median monthly wage in France in 2011 after taxes was €1,630. In the same year, 8.7m people lived below the poverty line of €977 per month.
The annual survey also found that nine out of 10 French people believe that "social inequality" has increased in the last five years, while 58% of those polled thought living standards were worse for pensioners.
Eight out of ten said they were satisfied with the quality of care provided by doctors and dentists, but 60% thought that healthcare varied according to income and where they lived.
The majority still support France’s hefty welfare bill - 64% considered it normal that France spends a third of its national income on social welfare - but 60% now believe that business are paying « no more or less than they should ».
Jérôme SALORT - Fotolia.com
