Europe Today: Introduction
French citizens call the “sans domicile fixe” or “SDF.” The of� ficial estimate then was some 86,000 persons. The estimate included many children. For among those per� sons without any fixed residence who made themselves known in one way or another to the social services – and these were in the minority – roughly 16,000 were below the age of 18. There are many more today as I review these numbers in January 2014. Even in 2002, however, charitable associations insisted on a much higher figure than the official one. At the time they estimated the number of SDF persons at anywhere between 100,000 and 800,000, depending on a key variable. That vari� able was the length of time a person remains without a fixed residence. Other variables, however, had also to be taken into consideration, such as general health conditions, seasonal aver� age temperatures, and changing social legislation. SDF persons are quite various. Three out of four are male adults. The rest are women and a good number of children. About one in three is a foreigner between the ages of 18 and 29. Perhaps one in three has some kind of employment. Sometimes, a few of the SDF even have a car to sleep in. But most SDF persons have neither work nor the possibility of sleeping in a car. About half of those without regular shelter at the time had roughly 380 euros per month (on July 2, 2007 the minimum wage in France was 1,005.39 euros net), and 15% had no financial resources at all. Since the winter of 2005, moreover, many SDF had become more sedentary. Part of this phenomenon was owing to Medecins
�������������������������������������������������������� C. Robert, “Le logement au coeur des inégalités sociaux”, in L’Etat des Inégalités en France 2007 (Paris: Belin, 2006), pp. 175-181.
France: Portrait social (Paris: INSEE, 2002). This ������������������������������ is a valuable annual pub� lication that allows for regular updating of much of the most important official statistical information concerning the social situations in France. Such statistics must nonetheless be used cautiously because of some persisting irregularities in the practices of gathering, categorizing, and distributing official French statistical information, especially in the social domains.