IMPULSE Edgar Aubisse Gender Inequalities in Housing Policies in France France’s Housing Crisis Has Deepened 2025 was another disastrous year for housing policy in France. The cumulative decline in the construction of so­cial housing, the reduction in emergency accommodation places, and cuts in housing assistance have all contributed to the worsening housing crisis affecting the country. The consequences of such policies are already visible: nearly 4.2 million people in France suffer from inadequate housing or the absence of personal housing. Beyond these most severe situations, 12 million people are affected to varying degrees by the housing crisis, bringing the total number of people impacted to around 15 million(Fondation pour le logement, 2026). Among them are 350,000 homeless people 1 , over 600,000 people forced to stay temporarily with third parties, and around 5.8 million people facing excessive housing costs 2 . Poor housing conditions are the result of political choices and therefore require political solutions to reverse this ex­tremely dangerous – and, for many people in France, even deadly 3 – trend. Housing Policies Remain Inadequate, Especially for Women Women, often overlooked, are nevertheless disproportion­ately represented in these statistics. Women account for 38% of homeless people recorded in France(Senate, 2024). Homelessness is undoubtedly the most visible and most se­vere form of inadequate housing. However, it is not the only one. Four other dimensions are included in the definition of poor housing: difficulties accessing housing, difficulties 1  That is, people who slept rough or in places not intended for human habitation(such as tents, car parks, railway stations or metro stations) on the night before the survey conducted by France’s National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies(INSEE), as well as people staying in emergency or transitional accommodation centres, publicly funded temporary accommodation hotels, or dedicated accommodation centres for asylum seekers. 2  People whose net housing cost burden(i.e. the share of their income spent on rent, mortgage payments or housing loans) exceeds 35%, leaving them with less than€650 per month to cover all other living expenses, adjusted per consumption unit(CU), a standard measure that accounts for household size and composition. 3  According to the French organisation Collectif des Morts de la Rue(Homeless Deaths Collective), 912 people experiencing homelessness died in 2024, including 31 children under the age of four. Les inégalités de genre dans les politiques du logement en France 1