2023-09-12 12:13:18
Published on September 12, 2023 at 12:13 p.m.
Youth are on the front lines of the social crisis. After food aid associations, it is now the turn of those who support students to sound the alarm. Nearly one in two students (46%) have already skipped a meal because of inflation, warns a study by Cop1 and Ifop. In its annual study, the association which fights against student precariousness draws up “a truly worrying inventory of young people”.
Students are indeed hit hard by the surge in prices. Almost half of them (45%) fear falling into poverty, notes the Cop1 study. Furthermore, more than one in three students (36%) plan to resort to food aid to get by.
Thus, half of the students questioned also claim to have already given up buying certain foods due to lack of means. This is twice as much as the national average. From now on, “higher education rhymes with isolation, renunciation and worry”, warns Cop1.
Hygiene is also sacrificed
The majority of them are also forced to deploy strategies to reduce their food bills. Seven out of ten students turn to hard discount supermarkets, like many French people. Nearly three-quarters of students are also turning to cheaper products.
The renunciations do not only affect food but also hygiene, where almost one in two students (43%) give up on expenses. A figure well above the national average. Worse, almost a quarter of students indicate that they sometimes do not have enough hygienic protection due to lack of money.
Other expenditure items are also restricted, starting with clothing (52% of students have already given up), entertainment and leisure (52%), home furnishings (49%) and electronic products. (45%).
The expectation of “adequate answers”
These financial concerns are also a source of isolation. Nearly one in two students report always or often feeling alone, according to the study. A proportion much higher than that measured in the entire French population.
Faced with these observations, “we can legitimately question the effectiveness of public policies,” says François Legrand, director of studies at the IFOP, who questions “the relevance of a universal income or, failing that, aid unconditional”. For its part, Cop1 believes that “it is absolutely necessary to propose adequate responses”.
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