Poverty: one in eight children has no working parents

One in eight children under 18 grew up in 2019 in a family where no parent was employed, and one in three children in single-parent families, according to an INSEE study published on Thursday.

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Even more than the size of the siblings or the social background, this situation constitutes "

", underlines the National Institute of Statistical Studies in its 2019 edition of the "

" of France.

Thus, nearly 75% of children living in a family where no parent is employed were in a situation of monetary poverty, against 13.7% of children when at least one parent is employed.

In detail, last year, 12.2% of children lived with their parents at home, whether they were unemployed, retired or disabled for example.

Having your parents unemployed is more frequent in families "

" and in single-parent families (which today represent one in five families).

Thus, 35.4% of children living in a single-parent family belong to an unemployed family, against 8.9% of those in a stepfamily and 5.9% in a so-called “

” family, according to this study.

However, this figure has been declining since 2003, when 39% of children in lone-parent families lived with an unemployed parent.

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In “

” or blended

families

, 66.7% of children lived in 2019 with two working parents (or in-laws), a proportion that has been increasing for the past fifteen years.

The proportion of children with one parent in employment and the other inactive declined to 21%, or 5.1 points less than in 2003. In this situation, 84.3% of cases concern the father. (or stepfather) in employment and the mother (or stepmother) inactive.

A proportion that has been falling for 15 years since it was 90.3% in 2003, specifies INSEE.