As the virus crisis continues, the struggle of young French people is being hit hard

PARIS (AP) – On a recent evening, Leïla Ideddaim waited to receive a bag of food, along with hundreds of other young French people who fail to meet. He saw the chitchat that accompanied the document as a welcome by-product, given its intense isolation during the pandemic.

The 21-year-old student in hotel and restaurant management saw his plans overturned by the virus crisis. With restaurants and tourist sites closed and France under a detention point at 18:00, his career prospects are uncertain. The strange jobs they had to maintain during their studies are hard to find.

“I’m in a fog,” said Ideddaim, who moved to Paris last year and is now struggling to meet both basic and emotional needs.

She is not alone. The long lines of young people waiting for food aid that stretch through the neighborhoods of Paris several times a week are a dramatic symbol of the tax that the coronavirus has had on young people in France.

The pandemic has devastated economies around the world, pushing vulnerable people deeper into poverty or tilting some into it for the first time. In France, the economic consequences weighed heavily on young people – and their troubles were exacerbated only by disruptions to education and social interactions.

Almost a quarter of young French people do not find work – twice and a half the national unemployment rate and one of the highest of the 27 nations of the European Union. Many students now rely on food aid and several organizations have come together to meet the need.

The pandemic has led to an increase in mental health complaints that authorities say are most acute among the unemployed, those in financial difficulties and young adults. A telephone line dedicated to students has seen an increase in calls, and young people have entered psychiatric wards.

As French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged, “it’s hard to be 20” in the coronavirus era.

Other European countries have also noticed a particularly heavy tax on young people. In Belgium, some areas offer help to students to help them pay for food, rent, transport and psychological help. In Germany, a study by the Hamburg-Eppendorf University Medical Center found that about one in three children suffers from pandemic anxiety, depression or psychosomatic symptoms such as headaches or stomach aches.

For Ideddaim, which needs to be maintained, the pandemic means a spreadsheet that is not always added. Every month, he needs more than 800 euros ($ 970) for housing, transportation and utility bills. He could not get a well-paid apprenticeship because the restaurants are closed and the hotels are in a precarious situation.

Instead, an internship at a campsite 45 kilometers east of Paris brings 300 euros a month – and alleviates their isolation. He also earns some money from temporary casual work in shopping malls. However, he spent almost all his savings.

“I draw up a Google sheet and leave my expenses and fixed costs every month. So I look at how much it goes in and figure out what I’m left with and where I can fasten my seat belt – for example, on food, ”she said.

Ideddaim is just one of many needy students being served by Linkee, an organization that has been collecting and distributing unused food for a long time to combat waste, but has only recently turned its attention to students.

Farid Khelef, 28, came from Algeria to study in France. He would not have imagined that one day he would wait for food aid.

“Before, I worked as an electrician in parallel with my studies. Because of the health crisis, it’s been almost four months since I stopped working, “he said as he waited for a bag from Linkee.

The organization began offering fresh food and food to students in October – and their materials twice a week now serve about 500 people, compared to 200.

“We are a safety net for all these students … who do not have enough money to buy food and have no choice but to come and buy quality food and at the same time find a friendly atmosphere,” he said. Julien Meimon, president of the organization.

With a smile, Ideddaim showed his bag filled with salad, cauliflower, apples, smoked salmon, yogurt and chocolate. But it comes to the place of food distribution for more than just a staple food.

“It’s a big moral boost – to know that I’m going to eat well and come to a place with a lot of people and everyone is in a good mood,” she said.

With only three weeks of in-person classes since September and being new to the city, she has struggled to create the social connections that are essential to building an adult life.

“It was not easy to integrate, to meet people,” she said. In the meantime, she enjoys talking on the phone with her grandmother, who also lives alone, and is looking forward to working this summer in the Atlantic seaside resort of Biscarrosse – as long as restaurants reopen.

Many young people struggle in a similar way. Paris Nightline, a student helpline, has seen a 40% increase in calls since the country entered its first blockade in March.

Depression among people aged 18 to 24 rose from 16.5% in early April to 31.5% in November, during the country’s second blockade, according to the national health agency in the United States. France, Sante Publique France.

Authorities noted the problem and, starting this month, urged universities to allow students to return to classes one day a week to help them regain a sense of normalcy. The institutions have also started offering 1 euro meals.

There are concerns that the pandemic could have long-term effects on young people. In the UK, the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that young people will have lost more than half a year of face-to-face learning or more than 5% of their total time at school by the end of the last national deadlock. of the country. The lost study could reduce average lifetime earnings by 40,000 pounds ($ 55,325) per student, he estimated.

Ideddaim, who prefers to look at the bright side, said she feels privileged to receive food aid.

“This type of aid does not exist in many countries and we are quite lucky in France to have this,” she said.

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Samuel Petrequin in Brussels, Danica Kirka in London and Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.

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Follow the AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.