Alarming figures. In a study published this Thursday, June 1 for the MonPetitForfait site, Ifop studied the various effects of the financial insecurity caused by inflation, located in May at 5.1% over one year, on the French population. The figures revealed by the survey “show that the financial anxiety of the French, far from being an irrational feeling, is indeed the fruit of a real deterioration in their purchasing power, not without worrying consequences on their bodies as well as on their mind,” the pollster said.
More than half of French people surveyed say they have cut back on their food budget over the last twelve months for financial reasons, compared to 29% in 2007. Thus, they find themselves forced to “skip meals regularly or occasionally” (up from 7 points since June 2022). For 28% of those surveyed, skipping a meal is a “regular” practice. Respondents overwhelmingly (66%) claim that their financial situation has deteriorated sharply compared to last year.
If inflation is synonymous with deprivation for some French people, it is also a source of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts. “The current price spike is not only cutting into the material living conditions of the poorest French people”, it is also weakening their mental health, explains the Ifop study. “Anxio-depressive disorders are much more frequent in the fraction of the population most in financial difficulty, whatever the indicator used. People in financial difficulty are thus those who display levels of distress well above average.
After deducting “constrained” expenses from bank accounts (rent, electricity, etc.), 31% of French people find themselves with a “rest of life” of less than 100 euros in their bank account. 10% of them are even short. This figure jumps among those most in distress: 47% of respondents suffering from “suicidal thoughts” arrive with less than 100 euros on the 10th of the month.
