Insee Première · June 2022 · n° 1907

The Covid health crisis has increased the precariousness of food aid recipients.

According to a survey conducted at the end of 2021, beneficiaries of food support form a very heterogeneous group, where profiles vary greatly depending on the type of aid people turn to. Those using meal distributions are mainly men, living alone and without personal accommodation. Conversely, the beneficiaries of parcels or social supermarkets are most often families living in their own accommodation, with an over-representation of single women with children. Around half of food aid recipients are immigrants.

People using food aid live in precarious conditions, including low resources and frequent health problems. One in four applicants also benefits from non-food assistance from non-profit organizations, and informal assistance is often an essential complement.

Even though half the beneficiaries of food aid at the end of 2021 had been using it for less than 2 years, only a minority of applicants (around 10%) said they turned to food aid because of the Covid health crisis. Nevertheless, the crisis has worsened the living conditions of many, in particular at the financial level. It has had a strong impact on a fraction, mostly foreign, of the students.