In France, the number of homeless people has increased by 44% in eleven years, reaching 112,000 people in 2012, according to INSEE. Worse still, nearly 31,000 children are homeless.
This is a shocking figure: in 2012, nearly 31,000 children were homeless in France, according to an INSEE study published on Wednesday (to read in full here). And this is a fundamental trend: in 11 years, France has seen the number of homeless people increase by 44%. This population reached 111,700 people in 2012, in agglomerations with more than 20,000 inhabitants in mainland France.
The study estimated that there were 81,000 homeless adults and 30,700 children. The study specifies that among homeless adults, “45,000 were born abroad”: 35% are from sub-Saharan Africa, 23% from the Maghreb and “a third of them most often from countries of Central or Eastern Europe, do not speak French, ”analyzes the study.
For children, “three-quarters of them accompany homeless people born abroad”, explains the study. This trend is not unique to France, since in the United States, one in thirty children is homeless, ie a total of 2.5 million children. Single people – not in a couple and without children – are clearly in the majority among the homeless born in France (74%). The homeless are mostly men: 38% of homeless adults are women.
1 in 10 homeless sleep in the street
Regarding accommodation conditions in France, one in 10 homeless sleeps in the street when 30% of homeless people (often families) benefit from more stable accommodation conditions: they are accommodated in accommodation provided by an association or an organization. The rest are accommodated in a hotel or in emergency accommodation.
In addition, 1 in 3 homeless lives on less than 300 euros per month, and 80% on less than 900 euros per month. While the vast majority are inactive or unemployed, 24% are working: they often have part-time and precarious jobs.
Finally, the INSEE survey also looks at the life courses of the homeless: more than 4 out of 10 homeless have never lived in independent personal accommodation, and 86% of the 66,300 homeless people say they have had to go through a painful event in their childhood.
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