According to the barometer of opinion of the Directorate for research, studies, evaluation and statistics (Drees), the French believe that a single person must have a minimum income of 1760 euros per month to live. This amount represents 71% more than the poverty level in france, established in 1026 euros per month for a single person.

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In the midst of a crisis of the movement of the "yellow vests", nearly 18% of the French interviewed felt poor at the end of 2018, compared to 13% on average in the past years. "The increase is not the same in all layers of the population," explains Adrien Papuchon, head of the research unit on the redistribution to the Drees and author of the barometer. Nearly a third of workers share that feeling of poverty, and 90% of them believe that social injustices will only increase in the future. 7% of intermediate occupations, consider themselves as poor, against 14% among the employees. In addition, a quarter of the French questioned think that they might find themselves in a situation of poverty during the next five years.

Between 2006 and 2016, the poverty rate has increased across Europe, from 13.3% to 14% in france. In France, nearly 8.8 million people, including 3 million children, were in a situation of poverty by the end of 2016. This means that they have to live of less than 855 euros (threshold 50%) or 1026 euros (threshold 60%) per month. The social benefits non-contributory accounts for a total of 42% of the disposable income of these poor households (14% of the social minimum, 14% of housing assistance, 11% on family benefits and 3% of premium activity), or approximately 345 euros per month.

According to a study by the Drees, these benefits can reduce the poverty rate of 8.2 points. In 2017, 4.22 a million people were beneficiaries of a social minimum. The same year, the country has distributed nearly 81 billion euros of social benefits, non-contributory, that is to say, those not subject to the payment of social security contributions pre-financed by the national solidarity.