Insee Première · January 2022 · n° 1888

Between city and countryside, the paths of children growing up in rural areas

As of 1st January 2018, 17.7 million children, teenagers and young adults aged 3-24 lived in France. 30% of them lived in rural areas. Taking into account residential mobility, the proportion of young people living in rural areas increased for those aged 3-13 years, remained almost stable for those aged 14-17 years, and then decreased by 9.5 points for 18 year-olds. On reaching the age of 18, 20% of young people living in rural areas left the countryside and moved to towns, mainly to continue their studies.

Young people living in the countryside grew up less often in single-parent families than their urban counterparts and they lived in more spacious housing. Their school was more often outside their own city than for those living in towns. They traveled an increasing distance according to age, to attend primary or secondary school (between 9 and 23 kilometers), when the latter is located outside their place of residence. Between the ages of 16 and 24, young people living in rural areas were more likely to be trained as apprentices than those living in towns.