The French Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, INSEE, publishes a yearly 'social portrait' of France, a rich and revealing document totalling more than 300 pages. Mediapart summarises some of the key observations from the INSEE's latest state-of-the-nation study.
TheThe French Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies last November published the 2010 edition of its yearly 'social portrait' of France, a rich and revealing document of more than 300 pages. Mathieu Magnaudeix summarizes some of the key observations from the study - available in full here (in French only).
Employment...
INSEE notes that in 2009, France experienced its strongest fall in economic activity since 1945. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 2.6% accompanied by the destruction of thousands of industrial jobs. Since 2005, French industry has seen 447,000 jobs disappear, of which 258,000 - more than half - were lost in the period since 2008.
During the second quarter of 2010, four out of ten job-seekers were in the category of long-term unemployed (i.e. had been registered as out of work for more than one year), compared to three out of ten in the first quarter of 2008. Note: Separate statistics released by INSEE in November show an upward trend in employment in the third quarter of 2010, when 44,000 jobs were created.
At the end of 2009, unemployment among the young (15 - 24 year-olds) reached 23.7%, its highest rate since such statistical assessments began in 1975. This was a rise of 6.4% since mid-2008. However, those figures naturally concerned young people included in the active population, whereas many 15-24 year-olds are not on the work market but involved in studying and training. When considering the total population of 15-24 year-olds, both 'active' and 'inactive', the unemployment rate for this group was 8.6% in 2009. Four out of ten of all job-seekers are aged under 30 years. Of these, the majority are men who, INSEE observes, are "less qualified than women and more present in those sectors worst-affected by the economic crisis (industry and building trade)". Diplomas are key to employment opportunities for 15-24 year-olds. Almost half (49.2%) of those who had left the education system between one and four years earlier without any form of qualification were unemployed. Of those in this category who were in employment, four out of ten had insecure jobs. Of those who had obtained higher education qualifications between one and four years earlier, just one in ten were unemployed, and two in ten had insecure employment. "Whatever the level of qualification, the unemployment rate diminishes according to the length of time spent on the job market, but there still remains a gap between those with and without diplomas," INSEE comments. "The strong rise in unemployment among the young who have recently finished their studies affects every level of education and training, including those with higher education diplomas," it concluded.
There is a significant difference in unemployment rates between blue and white collar workers. This is particularly so in the gap between unemployed unskilled workers (20% of all those unemployed) and managerial staff (4% of all those unemployed).
One salaried worker in two is in full-time employment. The number of part-time jobs has sharply increased with the economic crisis, up from 16.7% at the end of 2008 to 17.8% at the end of 2009: one in three declared they would prefer to work more. A total of 7.5 million salaried staff earned an annual sum of less than 9,000 euros in 2008. INSEE notes that many have little chance of finding stable living conditions: only 18% of those who made up the lowest paid 25% in 2005 managed to retain a status of "continued employment" in 2008. The remainder were either on the unemployed register or had very irregular employment.
Income, salaries, standards of living...
Despite the economic downturn, household consumption "resisted" in 2009, and largely continues to rise, INSEE reports (up 0.6% in 2009, compared to a rise of 0.8% in 2008). But this should be viewed with caution: while the French bought more cars in 2009 (notably as a result of the scrappage scheme1) and benefited from the drop in interest rates, they spent less on clothes, home furnishings, transport and eating out. The level of household savings reached its highest in ten years (16.2%) which INSEE interpreted as a "prudent" reaction to "the decline of the job market."
Rental costs for public- and privately-owned accommodation increased between 1996 and 2006, but particularly for the lower-paid. For them, accommodation rental costs represented 34% of all their monthly costs in 1996, and 39% of their total monthly costs in 2006, which INSEE's director of social and demographic studies, Stéfan Lollivier, describes as "extremely large". It is essentially due to a rise in the cost of private rentals. The cost of household energy supplies remained stable.
One person in two in France lives with an income of less than 1,580 euros per month. People among the worst-off 10% live on an average of less than 880 euros per month, while the population's highest-income 10% live with an average of 3,000 euros per month. The average income of the richest 1% has risen faster than the rest of the population. The average gross income of the wealthiest 20% of the population is seven times greater than that of the worst-off 20%.
In 2008, 7.8 million people in France - representing 13% of the population - lived under the poverty level (i.e. with less than 950 euros per month). One in three single-parent families live in poverty.
Using its own, larger definition of poverty, which is not restricted to a calculation based only on the level of income, INSEE estimated that more than one person in five experienced poverty at some time between 2004 and 2007. This INSEE definition of poverty takes into account a number of precarious living conditions as illustrated by problems such as bank overdrafts, difficulty in finding accommodation, living in accommodation without inside toilettes and/or where only cold water is available, difficulty with payment of bills and with buying proper food and clothing.
With the recession, the rise in costs of food and car fuel has slowed the rise of household disposable income, which was up 1% in 2009 compared with a rise of 3.2% in 2008 and 5.2% in 2007. The rise in purchasing power is described by INSEE as "very weak". The institute's general director Jean-Philippe Cotis notes that one third of the French adult population "has the feeling that their living standards are diminishing."
------------------------- 1: Whereby sales of small, low-polluting new cars were subsidised by a state-paid bonus paid for the part-exchange of an older car, then sent on for scrap. The scheme is due to end on December 31st, 2010.
Quality of life...
This difficult measurement is based on collecting objective information such as living conditions, health and education, and subjective elements such as perception of working conditions, and economic and physical security. The first (and hardly surprising) observation is that quality of life descends in parallel with income. But, in the main, the French consider themselves generally happy with both their living conditions and standards, at a level above the European average.
...and inter-ethnic tensions
For the first time ever, INSEE has attempted to measure inter-ethnic relationships. Its director of social and demographic studies, Stéfan Lollivier, concludes that, in comparison with other European countries, France is "the country where ethnic co-existence is the worst, along with Italy and the Netherlands."
The employment rate of children born to immigrants from the Maghreb countries of North Africa, those of the "second generation", is 20% less than those of the same generation born to French nationals. In part, this is because they are less qualified, as demonstrated by statistical evidence that this group has a greater access to employment in proportion to their qualifications. But INSEE observes that "the differences in levels of studies and experience explain only about a third" of the divergence, the remainder, it concludes, is down to either "discrimination", a lack of access to "professional networks", and/or "cultural" clout. In this category, women are notably at a disadvantage. There is also a clear but less marked difference in employment rates of those children born from French parents and those of parents from North, South and East Europe (table below, in French only).
Enlargement : Illustration 2
Finally, France keeps on producing babies: 820,000 per year, according to the latest statistics. The economic downturn does not appear to have affected this other side of French production. Now there's a French paradox that contrasts with European averages...Good news at last!
