PARIS, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- One report released Tuesday said that 3.5 million people in France are living in poverty, while another found that thousands are cheating to get benefits.
The Fondation Abbe Pierre released a study that suggested rising housing costs are one reason for greater poverty, with some families paying half their income for rent, Paris Link reported. About 1 million of those living in poverty are children.
At the same time, Assedic, the government agency that supervises unemployment benefits, said that cheating has become "industrial." Some scam artists allegedly set up dummy companies that hire people who want to collect benefits and immediately dismiss them.
A recent book by an anonymous author detailed his life for 24 years on unemployment benefits. He said that he took government job-seeking courses, which count as work in France for benefits purposes, and then did the opposite when he actually looked for work.
