DOn the night of 19-20 August, at least 2,043 children – including 467 children under the age of 3 – were left without accommodation after their families turned to 115 for help due to a lack of available or suitable accommodation. This figure is up 120% compared to 2020. And these already overwhelming statistics do not reveal the full extent of the problem. The rate of non-use of 115 is estimated at almost 69%, and does not include unaccompanied homeless minors or families living in squatters or slums.
For the sixth time we publish this barometer “Children on the Street” and, once again, we denounce the inadequacy and insufficiency of public policies in the face of this persistent tragedy. Successive governments have not been able to respond to the dysfunctions of public policies on child welfare, mental health, care for women victims of violence, housing or immigration policy that push families into exile, without taking into account the level of wages of so many poor workers.
Worse still, they have often chosen to implement harmful policies: the so-called “anti-squatting” law, measures taken against social landlords, reduction of APLs, etc., which go against our recommendations and cause notable setbacks in the fight against exclusion and homelessness. We want to believe that the disastrous bill “relating to the development of affordable housing supply” This threatens the SRU Act and social housing is finally abandoned. Today, the production and allocation of social housing is dramatically insufficient to meet the growing demand. Evictions for rent are increasing and the housing supply is saturated.
In addition, the resumption of tourist activity and the holding of the Olympic Games are putting additional pressure on these already overburdened structures. This situation leads to a series of vulnerabilities, contrary to the principle of unconditional reception that guides and legally regulates associative action, and which no longer even guarantees the protection of pregnant women or families with children under 3 years of age.
Best interest
Since the 2022 commitment to “zero children on the streets”, the number of children under 3 years of age without accommodation has increased by more than 27%. However, it is recognised that early childhood is a crucial period, during which the child’s environment and lived experiences have a determining influence on his or her future. It goes without saying that the hotel – a reality for 28,659 children – and the street are not conducive environments for these decisive stages of life.
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