France: Cost-of-Living Crisis is Hits Women Hardest

Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed

The French charity released its annual survey of poverty in France on Tuesday, saying it catered to a record one million people in 2022, up from 780,000 the previous year, amid an inflation crisis that has hit low-income households hardest.

Poverty is worsening in France and women and children are the main victims, the charity Secours Catholique has warned in its annual report, highlighting the burden of inflation, childcare and entrenched gender inequality on single women and mothers.

Jean Merckaert, the charity’s France advocacy officer, pointed to several factors behind this increase, starting with the rise in break-ups, in particular marital breakdowns, in which women tend to pay the highest price.

“In 9 cases out of 10, when we talk about single-parent households living in poverty, we’re talking about mothers whose meagre earnings and allowances are insufficient to cover childcare expenses,” Merckaert explained.