In these towers (very old photo) at the foot of La Défense before Covid 40% of the people living there were under the poverty line, ( there’s a food bank in one of them open daily), since Covid the percentage has risen… Many areas in France have the same problem to deal with, resources are thin sadly, and food to feed them getting thinner too. For les Mairies and Departments they handle the budgets to help but with more people to assist and less paying taxes….
Nota: scratch the surface of France, not all is rosy and every time France fart’s it doesn’t always smell nice!
3 Likes
Employers subside lunches for many workers - which is wonderful because it keeps these places alive, and stops the race to a 10 minute sandwich eaten at your desk culture. But if your employer is not subsidising you, you probably wouldn’t eat there for lunch during the working week.
However even the 13€ menu is expensive for many people, and with children it is beyond affordable. If your net wage is 300€/week you don’t spend €70 on your lunches.
4 Likes
I believe there is actually a law against eating a main meal at your desk in France
1 Like
Sometimes the resto carries a sign equivalent to “luncheon vouchers are accepted” but the smaller ones don’t (not around our locality).
The small local ones know their customers and seem to thrive.
I have noticed that over the years, wine has gradually been removed from the inclusive MdJour price… which enables the price to remain the same… (very clever marketing I reckon).
I always fill up a bag when they are collecting even though when m having conniptions at my food bill, there are others worse than me! I’m currently nagging the teen to leave the meat at lunch and just have something simple (cheap).! I have no idea how single income families like ours manage tbh. We have no rent / mortgage so we just about manage. 500-600€ out for rent would kill us.
2 Likes
To take this back to being a political thread 
this is what will be interesting over the next 5 years. Manu will want to cement his legacy, he doesn’t need to attempt to please everyone for everything to get votes, but whatever he does over the next 5 years will either make him a damp squib who will be forgotten by the history books and popular culture, or as someone who will (hopefully for good reasons) be remembered and lauded for decades, or even centuries, to come. This is his chance to balance the ‘stick’ of social security and pension reforms, with some real, defining ‘carrots’ to make life better for those who are struggling at the bottom of the pyramid which will get him into history as a real french leader who improved the country. Whether he does anything at all I guess we’ll see, but to date his legacy is entirely ‘meh’, so I’m sure these thoughts will be on his mind, it’s just whether he wants to, and can, do the graft to try do something, or can find something easier, cheaper, and less fundamental that he can think ‘yeah, that’ll do for my legacy’.
1 Like
People can get deduct about 5€ per lunch from their tax instead of tickets restaurant.
That’s probably very useful… as they are artisans, they probably would pay tax so can benefit.
No. People will live and work in all kinds of circumstances, and there may be times when ends simply don’t meet and help is needed. Sometimes it’s just a situation, sometimes it’s stupidity/mismanagement/health etc. etc. Perhaps it’s a sign of failing government, but it’s also a sign of a caring society helping directly.
1 Like
Twenty years ago there were no recognisable food banks in the UK (the Trussel Trust ran only two in 2004), are you saying people were less stupid/unfortunate then or could it just be that poverty levels have increased rapidly?
Neither.
I grew up in a household where my self-employed father was sometimes unable to work due to injury: clothes were all from jumble sales, sometimes food was bought from the money gained by finding & returning corona bottles and sometimes there was no meat because we had so little money. There have been times in my adult married life when money was so short our meat came from roadkill and the house was heated with wood scavenged from local woodland. I mention this so you can understand that I’ve experienced financial hardship.
I think the population is generally wealthier than it’s ever been compared to past generations, and the most destitute certainly no more more so than in times past. To me, the operation of foodbanks is a sign that society is still caring, and that out of the plenty they have, many are willing to give to help those in difficulty. In both the scenarios I described, foodbanks would have been an amazing resource for us.
10 Likes
To me the massive spike in the number of foodbanks isn’t a sign that society has become more caring (actually I think we’ve generally become more selfish) it’s because there is a growing need for such resources to serve the people living at the bottom as it were. As a population we may have increased wealth overall but I believe there are more and more people being left behind because of the high cost of housing and poorly paid jobs.
4 Likes
I’d accept that explanation in respect of the UK (in particular) but would you not agree that high cost of housing and poorly paid jobs are less of an issue in France?
1 Like
Less of an issue but still a massive problem especially for people on the minimum wage with a family. As far as renting goes that also depends on where you are living as in places with more jobs rents will be higher.
Edited to say of course I much prefer the social model here but like Wozza said definitely not all rosy and definitely not if you are from a different ethnic background in a depressed area.
3 Likes
Point taken but isn’t there more opportunity for good quality social housing across France which is not exorbitantly high? I know that there is good social housing in our commune run by the Mairie in an essentially agriculture based economy. Legal protections for tenants is surely another important consideration. It’s not all about the availability of high wage jobs.
Yes I agree it’s great that people are more protected but I think there will always be more housing availability in a rural area, but not necessarily many jobs. Hence the large number of dying villages in France.
But maybe there are lots of all year round jobs in agriculture where you are?
No not at all
haven’t been in the jobs market for over 30 years and certainly not whilst in France, so can’t proffer any view on that, sorry.
without an explanation/clarification?
Maybe there are two different conversations happening. In relation to the UK, the social contract has been broken by the Tories and that is criminal on an unprecedented scale. In France there is a lot of poverty and misery that can’t be swept under the carpet and must be addressed in order to not see another surge in the Far Right at the next election.
Both countries also have many things going for them and I try and remain optimistic and hope that in spite of the damaged inflicted upon the UK, things will turn around.
1 Like