A new Ifop survey reveals the sacrifices made by some French people on their hygiene to cope with the economic context and inflation.
- One in three French people do without hygiene products because of the current economic context, according to a recent Ifop survey.
- 7% of respondents indicate that they brush their teeth without toothpaste, 8% wash without soap or shower gel, and 17% of parents do not change their child’s diapers as frequently as they would like.
- During the previous barometer on this subject, in 2021, these proportions were approximately half as much.
One in three French people do without hygiene products because of the economic context. This is revealed by a new poll Ifop, produced for the association Dons solidaires, which Release relayed in its columns on Tuesday, March 21. Hygienic precariousness, which “degrades self-esteem and leads to isolation”, “continues to progress and is no longer the prerogative of the beneficiaries of associations” fight against poverty, warns in a press release this association which collects unsold products from companies to donate them to the charitable sector.
Precariousness: 73% of the poorest respondents go without hygiene products
More specifically, 7% of respondents indicate that they brush their teeth without toothpaste, 8% wash without soap or shower gel, and 17% of parents do not change their child’s diapers as frequently as they would like. During the previous barometer on this subject, in 2021, these proportions were approximately half as much. “How to feel worthy when you lack such essential products?”, wondered Dominique Besançon, the general delegate of Dons solidaires, who wishes “Warning about this precariousness still too little considered”.
As might be expected, the figures are even more alarming when we specifically question poor people, beneficiaries of associations in the Solidarity Donations network: 73% say they deprive themselves of hygiene products in general, 34% of shampoo and 31 % menstrual protection.
“I deprive myself to leave more protection to my daughters”
“Sometimes I wash the children with water alone or tell them to just do a quick wash”, testifies a mother of two children, quoted in the press release. Another indicates using toilet paper for period protection: “I deprive myself to leave more protection to my daughters”she explains.
The survey was conducted by Ifop on 1,501 individuals and 300 parents of children aged three or under who responded to an online questionnaire. 1,162 beneficiaries of associations in situations of precariousness and social exclusion were also interviewed face-to-face last January and February at the premises of partner associations.
