This is a harsh reality and it is not getting better. According to the 7th wave of the constrained spending index — study carried out for lesfurets.com by CSA Research online from November 5 to 7, 2024 from a sample of 1,010 French people, representative of the French population aged 18 and over. no longer administered online from November 5 to 7, 2024 and which we are revealing -, almost a quarter of French people (22%) declare themselves overdrawn on their current account every month or almost. On average, they fall into the red from the 16th of each month. Last spring, this “overdraft day” was the 17th, a sign of increasing tension on the purchasing power of the most modest French people.
An average which hides even more precarious situations. Since for 44% of people registering an overdraft each month, it occurs in the first half of the month.
The risk of finding yourself in a precarious situation in relation to one’s budget obviously varies depending on income since the share of households regularly overdrawn is greater among the poor (41%), modest (37%) and middle class categories. lower (31%).
Children weigh on the budget
But other parameters have an importance, if not decisive, at least significant in the risk of being overdrawn. Thus, the weight of rent is preponderant in a budget since 33% of tenants are overdrawn every month or almost compared to 17% for owners. Young people, students or at the start of their career, with therefore lower salaries, are also more often in the red: 29% of 18-24 year olds and even 35% of 25-34 year olds.
However, age is not as discriminating a variable as the number of children in the household. According to the 7th edition of the Constrained Spending Index, 35% of French people with at least one dependent child under the age of 15 are regularly overdrawn compared to only 15% of those who do not. Not really enough to encourage the French to have children when only 663,000 babies were born in France in 2024 according to the latest INSEE barometer.