Overview

• Insee’s July report shows 9.8 million people lived below the poverty threshold in 2023, with 650,000 newly impoverished since the previous year.
• Income inequality widened as wealthier households boosted earnings through financial returns while the poorest saw their living standards stagnate or decline.
• More than one in three single-parent families and a growing share of low-earning micro-entrepreneurs fell under the poverty line last year.
• Retiree poverty rose modestly by 0.3 point to 11.1%, a rise contained by the partial revalorization of the contributory minimum pension.
• Associations including Fondation pour le logement des défavorisés and Collectif Alerte have issued legal warnings and are pressing the government to set quantifiable poverty-reduction targets and adopt systemic reforms.