Paris

Homeless Demographics

The homeless in Paris generally present the same characteristics as in France as a whole. They are predominantly male and younger than the general population; a high proportion are nonnationals or unemployed or both. Some features, however, are specific to the Paris urban area.

Compared with other major urban areas in France, Paris's proportion of homeless people “sleeping rough” or in improvised shelters is twice as high (12 versus 6 percent). In Paris, almost twice as many have slept in an emergency shelter that must be vacated the next morning (22 versus 12 percent). They are also more likely to be allocated hotel rooms, but less likely to be accommodated in housing provided by voluntary organizations, than their counterparts in other cities.

The proportion of women among people staying in shelters—whether required to leave the next morning or not—or sleeping in the street, though still low, is higher in Paris than in the rest of France. The capital has fewer homeless couples and children.

For France as a whole, the proportion of nonnationals among French-speaking homeless people is higher than in the housed adult population. This is even more true of the Paris region, where it reaches 42 percent (as opposed to 14 percent for people with stable housing). The proportion in the emergency shelters is even higher and would be still higher if non–French speakers, who are not generally covered by the survey, had been included. This reflects the special role that Paris occupies in the trajectories of migrants.

In addition, 36 percent of homeless people in Paris have been so for at least 13 months (as opposed to 27 percent in the other urban areas).

While accommodation conditions in Paris are harder and periods of homelessness last longer, finding work, on the other hand, is relatively easier. Thirty-five percent of homeless people interviewed in the capital had work, either on a contract or noncontract basis, compared with 25 percent in the rest of France.

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