Surviving below poverty line in France

In France, 19% of 18-29 years olds have standard of living below the poverty line, Cleo is one of them.
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[foggyfrogy]

In france this is poverty, in a lot of countries this is the middle class.

[Kopie]

I feel her pain, I also left my parents, lived in a tent for a while while working odd jobs. 12 years later, I have a small farmland near the city. I am still amazed I was able to buy this land. Stay strong lady.

[JeagerGray]

I know her pain and struggles. I lived below poverty line in France for all of my childhood and my situation was even WORSE. My parents and I lived in a run-down appartment with pretty much nothing in it... We would sleep on a blanket on the floor, we couldn't afford furnitures nor electrical appliances, I would wear the same clothes to school every 2 days, etc. One of my fondest memories was when my parents finally acquired a small fridge (I was about 14 then). Human beings can adapt to anything and you get used to having very little, but one thing I could never get used to is the SHAME. The shame of being really poor in a developped country and the anxiety when trying to hide it to your friends. Really tough times.

[phoebeel]

I worked for the food bank in Berlin for a year, in the logistics team, and the number of customers increased by like 20k in the time I worked there. Times are really rough! But I can tell from experience - the food banks are not something to be ashamed to go to. We work our asses off to get good quality food to you, we sort through tonnes of veggies and fruit everyday to insure customers only get the best stuff! We also save good food from being thrown away. Some people even pay to get crooked almost expired fruit to feel better about themselves! It's not hand-downs, it's just making the most of edible food! We had the best shit, sometimes even luxury skin care. We do our best. Please don't be ashamed to come to us!

[Wrzerq]

That is not poverty, that is unemployment. She doesn't work for the most part, but still has a place to stay with her own room, money for cigs (of course), booze, occasional nights out and still complains that she cannot travel. Most people in other countries (and that's really majority) has to work their ass off to get even close to that standard of living.

[isaacness]

damn, poverty line in france is an average student life in my country (mexico), i'd really love for all jobless people to have this quality of life, life and death on the streets is something so harsh to watch

[albertogarcia]

She is a healthy woman and seems to have at least an average intelligence. Living in one of the best countries in the world, she could find a full-time job and live way better, but she prefers to work from time to time and live with 500 euros in a month.

[HapaxLegomenon_]

I don't think they could have picked a worse example of poverty in France. Not only is this woman not poor but she has no reason for even being in her current situation. She has no kids or disabilities that could prevent her from working, she's young, she speaks french and she lives in a walkable city where she could easily get a minimum wage job in a supermarket or something.
Minimum wage in France is extremely livable and based on inflation.
She clearly has enough time to look for jobs since according to her taxes she worked an average of 5 hours a week in 2020.
If you have enough money to smoke and go out drinking, I don't think you can claim to be living in poverty.
It's also pretty shameful to take advantage of food banks instead of leaving it for truly poor people (for example a single mother who works and also has 3 kids to pay for and take care of) since as she says, there is less and less to go around and more and more people that need it.
Her reasoning of 'If I work too much, I can't have my gibs' is flawed since she would make almost 3 times what she gets from taxpayers if she worked full time at minimum wage, not sure if it's an excuse or just a mindset but I think the most probable answer is also the simplest: laziness.

[lisamonaban_]

I’m italian, but I have family in France because my uncle married a french woman when he went there to find a job. She is now my aunt, and when I went to France to visit them, she told me a similiar story to this lady’s one. Before she met my uncle she got despised by her family because she ended up pregnant. The moment they found out that, they abandoned her, and she became homeless. When my cousin was born, she started to steal from supermarkets in France so they both would be able to eat. That was her situation when she met my uncle, who was literally just a poor italian migrating to find fortune elsewhere. At that time, i don’t think there were any social funds for people living under the poverty line. Still, my uncle started working as a plumber and she became a babysitter. To this day, my aunt’s family doesn’t talk to her. She told me that it doesn’t bother her as it did at the time. Now they have 2 more daughters which are the cousins I’m the closest with, despite the distance. My uncle and her have been together for almost 30 years now, and she still loves him like day 1. I’m sure they ended up together because they shared this frustrating feeling of constant worrying as poor youngsters. But it does get better. So I wish to everyone living in such hard conditions a not so worrying future, with enough money to feel comfortable in this society too. You are not alone

[LeannsAdventures]

I left my home when I was 19 and was lucky to rent a small apartment that my coworker’s husband built above their garage. I only paid $600 a month and they were kind enough to never raise my rent for six years. During that time I had to be super careful with what I spent, never bought new stuff for myself, didn’t go out to socialize if it meant spending money, since I had to pay my own my way through college. Eventually I was able to save up to buy a house after another 6 years. Your situation can change just keep pushing.

[marccolas]

I am French and I confirm this really happen to young people. In my case, I was graduated with master degree in Law (in France, this is not like other countries, you have to pass other exams after your studies).
I lived with social money and this period was pain, even your own family dont understand (at their time, in the 70s, when you were graduated you get automatically a job, rent or buy house was cheap and easy).
Finally, I have escaped to Eastern Europe, as renting a flat there is very easy and find whatever jobs I could find as unemployment rate is very low...
Yes, my life quality is much more better in Poland than in France : I can have my flat, I can pay my travels...
PS: I see people from Brittany look very friendly :) Never been in this region ^^

[_Cath_]

500 euros is the minimum wage in Portugal

[pemarabsel]

Sending love. As a young poor American, I totally relate. Spending money on snacks and drinks isn't a waste of money when you are this poor, it's a necessity for feeling human.

[milosstevic]

I came from Serbia, now I'm living in USA. This conditions are normal in Serbia for most people, even close to some middle class. Average salaries in Serbia are around 500euros. But the difference is that in Serbia we have really close family ties. Many grown up children stay in their houses with parents and when you have 2 or 3 salaries per house than it can be good.

[Vanslockhart]

I'm middle poor class and I relate to her so much. Sometimes I feel that In not allowed to have fun because I'm poor. Im relieve to have classmates that go through the same situation because we support each other. One day someone invites me, the other day I invite them and sometimes we buy one meal to share and that's a whole new level of friendship.
Personally when I feel sad I get myself some fruit or a snack, and that lifts me up even if it's once a week, I enjoy it deeply.

[Harishcn]

This is not poverty this is normal life.

[lisamariee]

"Never ending stress" absolutely sums it up.

[vantablack]

Man one thing about these developed countries is the definition of poverty and what it is like is entirely different as opposed to third world countries. In a country like India if a family or a person is living below poverty line then things are very rough and if that family or a person happens to live in abject poverty then almost no one would bat an eye to care whether you are dead or alive and many a times people go to sleep(not bed) on empty stomach. Some die out of contracting various diseases from infection by living in such horrible conditions. Many youths have become conscious of this persisting problem and have gone out of their way to help the ones in need, even dedicating their whole life for the cause but that still amounts close to nothing compared to how gargantuan the problem is. I also like the way people in developed countries are able to understand what they are going through and are articulate enough to talk about their problems, in a way that they haven't lost their discerning ability to understand the gravity of their situation. I understand it's different, the way poverty and abject poverty is perceived in societies out there and it might be even different in 4th world countries and what is a horrible living conditions for one might be a good and a better life in the lens of another and vice versa.

[mirzah]

In most of Asia, this is classified as Middle Class. People here can easily overcome the difficulties because in Asia we live with our families & we have strong family bonding.

[petesadler]

I arrived in Rennes around ten years ago - I spoke barely a word of French and 200Eur inmy pocket but still managed to find work by visiting practically each shop, restaurant and bar in the center and ask for a job - I did everything from washing up, waitering, cleaning, factory work. During this time I met loads of people like her (especially on the rue de soif) - to proud to work shit jobs but yet expect the state to provide for them - at the same time you meet loads of immigrants - polish, portuguese, sri lankans who work and are able to build a life for themselves buy putting the graft and doing the jobs the french think is beneathe them. Tens years later I have a house, a really good job, kids, live in a really nice commune etc - as have most of my fellow immigrants I'm still in contact with. The french that I met on the rue de soif - they are still there complaining about their lives and expecting the world to owe them something.