Posted Feb 16 2023 at 04:17 PMUpdated Feb 16. 2023 at 17:54
Does the place of living affect the purchasing power of households? Is it a factor of inequalities? While these questions were at the heart of the “yellow vests” movement in the fall of 2018, France Strategy sought to give a picture of the reality on the ground in two studies presented this Thursday and carried out using data from the INSEE 2017 family budget survey.
To analyze the situation, the expert body placed with Matignon focused on the notion of “rest to be spent”, i.e. what remains once the compulsory expenses of housing have been paid (limited to the main residence). , daily transport and food. A good indicator for measuring the financial well-being of households. As a reminder, these three items absorb on average more than half of the resources of French households, with strong disparities according to social categories.
A first unexpected result
Work by France Stratégie shows a first, unexpected result: for a household profile with the same criteria of age, income and family composition, the overall level of cumulative expenditure on food, transport and housing does not depend on the place where we live. Except in Paris where they are much higher. In other words, outside the capital, we spend more or less the same whether we live in Bordeaux or a small rural town. Similarly, it does not cost more to reside on the outskirts of an employment zone than in the centre.
On the other hand, this creates a different balance, in particular between spending on housing and spending on transport. In 2017, except in the Paris region, it was no more expensive for a household to live on the outskirts of an employment zone than in its center, because “transport and housing expenses tended to offset each other” , says the study. Since then, the return of inflation and the surge in energy prices in 2022 have undoubtedly changed the situation.
808 euros in the North, 1,165 euros in the Paris region
Second lesson: the “rest to be spent” varies according to the territories not because of the level of expenditure, but of the differences in income. It is particularly low for those who live in the center of employment areas or in the municipalities that are the furthest away from them, according to France Strategy.
Calculated per consumption unit, it is estimated at 938 euros per month in the East, 830 euros in the Mediterranean and 808 euros in the North where it is lowest. On the other hand, in the Paris region, it reaches 1,165 euros both because jobs are more abundant there and above all better paid, but also because households consent to significant sacrifices in terms of their housing conditions, in particular surface area.
“Since 2008, employment has mainly developed in large cities, recalls Alain Trannoy, one of the authors. On the other hand, activities declined in rural areas. This could have fueled deep dissatisfaction in terms of financial well-being. “Comparing the territories does not make much sense, nuance Pierre-Henri Bono, co-author of the study. From one to the other, the composition of households is very different. »