While the devastating health impacts of COVID-19 are well known, other, quieter consequences are affecting the French youth. This COVID generation is threatened by economic insecurity and social distress, as well as a potential decrease in income projected over more than a decade.

A real economic distress among the most vulnerable young French people

The crisis exacerbates existing social vulnerabilities, pushing thousands of young people into poverty. Indeed, those under 30 years old make up 35% of the population and nearly 50% of the poor. The rising cost of living and job losses due to the pandemic are lowering the standard of living for students. According to a parliamentary survey conducted at the end of 2020 among 50% of young French people, 30% reported having foregone medical care or essential purchases for financial reasons.

According to the report resulting from the same survey, published in December 2020, there is also significant food insecurity among more than half of these young people. Specifically, 55.8% of students faced financial difficulties for food expenses during the second lockdown.

Another factor adding to the list of COVID-19 crisis consequences for these young people is inadequate housing. There are few studies on this reality, but according to the Observatoire des Inégalités, it is indeed a significant form of poverty. Low incomes make it difficult to secure a lease, as does the lack of a permanent employment contract (CDI).

From isolation to psychological distress, these invisible struggles faced daily by the COVID generation

While the most economically vulnerable are the hardest hit, the crisis’s effects are so extensive that even the more well-off are not spared from social distress. The isolation and deep sense of abandonment that students have been facing for over a year are traumatic for these young people. Often left to fend for themselves without any emotional support, they sometimes lack any social interaction due to lockdowns, but also because of the severed ties with high schools and universities.

This feeling is burdensome for those who endure it and can become more severe if other anxiety-inducing factors, such as financial insecurity, are added.

Consequences when entering the job market—French youth are still not spared

Since last December, unemployment has been rising in France. In the third quarter of 2020, the number of unemployed people in mainland France reached 2.7 million, an increase of 628,000 according to INSEE. Overall, this rate is increasing more for young people (+2.6 points) than for other age groups.

This growth is alarming because the consequences of COVID-19 will be felt long-term by French youth. Two American researchers, Hannes Schwandt and Till von Wachter, explained that people entering the job market during a crisis experience income losses for fifteen years. The IMF confirms this : by the time these young workers of today reach the age of 40, they will earn 7% less each year than if they had entered the job market last year.

At Break Poverty, we are committed to supporting the French youth who are fully experiencing the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. It is important that we move forward together to combat these unacceptable situations of insecurity.

Photo credit : Neet2, Sutterstock.

Find out more about our Digital inclusion drive operation, which helps young victims of the digital divide and school dropouts during this period of health crisis.