Social anxiety is settling into the French landscape. According to the latest Ipsos/BVA barometer for La Tribune Dimanche, purchasing power remains the main worry for 47% of citizens, followed closely by the future of the social system (39%).
While environmental concerns have seen a spectacular rise (+12 points, to 32%), they do not hide an increasingly significant economic and social reality: France is facing a continuous rise in poverty.
A record level of poverty
Data published by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (INSEE) has quantified this malaise. The poverty rate in France has reached its highest level since 1996. In total, 9.8 million people live below the poverty line, set at €1,337 per month.
While the institute notes a slight increase in income for the poorest (+1.7%), this rise remains insufficient to compensate for the inflation of recent years and the general erosion of the labor market.
The French redistributive model, although playing a cushioning role, seems to be reaching its limits, maintaining a form of stagnation where economic survival takes precedence over social mobility.
The question of working hours
At the heart of this stalled economic mechanism is the question of working hours. A study by the European agency Eurofound highlights the persistent gap between France and its neighbors.
With a legal limit of 35 hours, France stands out from the majority of European countries which align with a 40-hour basis. This short working time translates into lower production, contributing to a collective impoverishment that weakens the entire social model.
An echo in the political field
This convergence of economic and social difficulties finds an echo in the political field. The latest opinion polls show a reorganization where the figures of the Rassemblement National come out on top.
Marine Le Pen (34%) and Jordan Bardella (33%) top the list of personalities whose potential election would satisfy the most French people.
This dominance is explained less by massive support for their program than by generalized doubt towards other political forces, judged incapable of providing concrete answers. France seems to have entered a zone of turbulence where the indicators all point to the same conclusion: the country does not work enough to finance its model, and is struggling more and more to protect the most vulnerable.
A collective fatigue
Between the lines of the figures lies a collective fatigue. That of a society that sees poverty progress despite a high level of taxation and political debates that seem disconnected from reality.
The crucial question is no longer whether France must work more, but how much longer its economic and social model can afford not to do so.
Bernard BERTUCCO VAN DAMME