Nearly three out of ten Europeans say they are in a precarious situation, which leads them to give up certain needs, such as eating enough to eat or heating their homes, warns a barometer from Secours populaire published on Wednesday. In detail, 49% of Greeks say they are concerned, compared to 22% of French and 18% of Germans, according to this study carried out by the Ipsos institute among 10,000 individuals, aged 18 and over, in ten countries (Germany , France, Greece, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, Moldova, Portugal, Romania and Serbia).
“Exercising a professional activity does not guarantee having a comfortable financial situation”, points out the survey: more than a third of the working people questioned (36%) declare that they cannot meet all their expenses. Due to a “difficult financial situation”, 62% of Europeans have already restricted their movements and 46% have already given up heating their homes despite the cold. Stable figures compared to the same survey carried out last year, but which was conducted in only six European countries (Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom).
“Because of the decline in their purchasing power, more than a third of Europeans regularly restrict themselves on the quantities of food they consume”, indicates the 2023 study. Thus, 38% of respondents do not three meals a day, 39% give up buying meat and 10% turn to associations for food. Last year, 29% of respondents said they sometimes skip meals when hungry.
The situation has “slightly improved” compared to last year in countries that have been most affected by inflation, such as Greece, but it remains “very worrying” in all countries covered by the investigation, estimates the Secours populaire. In France, “precariousness is increasing”, according to Houria Tareb, national secretary of the association.
“All profiles come to see us: students, single mothers, young active people”, but “we saw a return this year” an audience met during the health crisis, namely “people who managed until then with low income, who did not have a full-time job, “she added to AFP.
In this context, associations fighting against poverty are faced with an influx of requests for help, which they have difficulty absorbing. The survey was conducted from June 7 to 27 on the Internet among a sample of 10,000 people representative of the national population aged 18 and over in each of the ten countries surveyed, according to the quota method. In each country, 1,000 people were interviewed.
