In a study, the French say they are satisfied with the health care system and their situation. Nevertheless, they harbor concerns for their future and that of those close to them.
Are the French still unhappy? False ! In the last DREES opinion barometer (1) produced by BVA (2), our fellow citizens say they are overwhelmingly satisfied with the healthcare system and their personal situation. Enough to forget the 11th place to which the French health system is now in Europe …
Nearly three quarters of French people feel in good health, and they are mostly satisfied with the quality of care provided by the various actors of the health system.
In detail, nine out of ten said they “particularly” appreciate the quality of care provided by their general practitioner, who remains the first point of contact for information and advice on health. Next come nurses with 85% of respondents satisfied, specialists (82%), then dentists and orthodontists (81%).
Increase in poverty and exclusion
As a source of discontent, six out of ten French people consider that the healthcare costs remaining at their charge are too high. This opinion turns out to be all the stronger among people who are fragile or without a supplement, or who have limited resources.
Another important point of this barometer, the French draw up a still negative panorama of the state of society which they consider rather unfair (76%). And the economic crisis that has raged in France since 2007 is obviously not without consequences on their morale. Almost 90% of them believe that poverty and exclusion have increased in recent years.
And if eight in ten French people have a positive outlook on their personal situation, a large number express fears about the future. Nearly four in ten French people fear unemployment for themselves or those around them. And as many consider themselves in a degraded situation compared to that of their parents.
This feeling of intergenerational downgrading is however down compared to the period 2010-2014, when it reached 47%! “It remains more widespread among people who consider their situation bad (precarious employment, unemployment, low income …)”, specify the investigators.
Women for increased benefits
Faced with these concerns about the future, the French are calling for greater solidarity. For example, they are much less likely to want social benefits to benefit only contributors, “which marks a break with the trend of previous years”, even the last five years …
But above all, they are more likely to support the universality of benefits for health insurance and pensions (plus 6 points and 5 points), and to think that certain benefits, such as family allowances and unemployment compensation, should be intended only for people who cannot manage on their own (plus 13 points and 4 points).
Finally, the women questioned are more in favor of maintaining and increasing the level of social benefits. They consider more often than men (43% against 33%) that aid for the reconciliation between family and professional life should be a priority objective of family policy, the pollsters conclude.
(1) Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics
(2) Data for the 2015 wave were collected between October and December, from a sample of over 3,000 people, representative of the population aged 18 or over in mainland France (quota method). In the remainder of this document and to make it easier to read, the term “French” refers to people aged 18 or over questioned within the framework of this Barometer living in mainland France, whether or not they are of French nationality.
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