Figures of Poverty under the Third Republic

The early Third Republic in France marks a political and moral turning point in the approach to poverty-as-precariousness, with a decisive shift from the “duty of charity” to the “right to assistance”. This article combines a literature review, a summary of authors’ research results, and the analysis of the assistance budgets of the National Statistics Service (Statistical Yearbooks of France) to examine the various forms of poverty-as-precariousness and the most impoverished citizens. It shows that private charities and community programs increasingly provide aid to able-bodied adults, while the new legal assistance still focuses on the traditional social and health double vulnerability.