How does France determine ‘poverty’? What the latest figures show

Alerts have been raised over France’s high levels of poverty, with year-on-year figures not showing any improvement.

Up to 14.4% of the French population – around 9.1 million people – were in ‘monetary poverty’ in 2022, according to a new report published by national statistics group INSEE. 

These are the most up-to-date figures available (data for 2023 has not yet been published), and remain virtually unchanged from those in 2021. 

‘Monetary poverty’ is defined as a person who lives below the poverty line. In 2022, this was determined to be a monthly income of €1,216 (representing some 60% of the average median income of a person in France).

“We are worried because we do not feel that there is a real desire to change things,” said Marie-Aleth Grard, president of ATD Quatre Monde, an organisation that fights poverty, after the findings were published. 

“There may be plans and strategies to combat poverty, but it has not reduced in seven years. It is not moving,” she added, saying that it seems politicians have no “real desire to change the lives of more than nine million people in our country.”

"We cannot leave more than nine million people by the wayside. It is not acceptable,” she said.

Read more: What income makes you rich in France? Think tank sets 2024 figure

Increase in benefits and better housing

The organisation is calling for two key changes. 

Firstly, an increase in the minimum amount of benefits offered to help push people's income above the poverty level. 

Secondly, the provision of “decent and lasting” housing and employment. 

These would “allow people to live with dignity and not to be in a state of survival all the time,” Ms Grard said. 

Poverty levels in France remain similar to the UK, where the government classes 9.5 million (14%) people as living in poverty. This rises to 18% when housing costs are taken into consideration. 

Both countries use the same measurements for assessing poverty levels.