FILOSOFI,a new administrative data source on income poverty at local level in France

Abstract

How to measure incomes is a key issue for official statistics. Many contributions based on national levels or on international comparisons analyze income gaps. But, the sub-national dimensions have also to be taken into account: territorial disparities within each country, in terms of income poverty, can be stronger than between countries themselves. French Statistical office (INSEE) tackled this issue in order to improve the measurement of poverty at sub-national levels. Therefore, a new tool called FILOSOFI (“FIchier LOcalisé SOcial et FIscal” or “social and tax localized database”) has been implemented. The users’ needs gave birth to the launch of the development of FILOSOFI almost ten years ago. The increasing demand for income analysis for design and monitoring of targeted policies put further pressure on the establishment of FILOSOFI. The main purpose of this project is to measure the disposable income and thus, the income poverty, at sub-national levels. Indeed, FILOSOFI is a quite innovative statistical source set up by INSEE, mainly from administrative data. This statistical project was launched in 2010 and the dissemination of the first results on year 2012 took place in June 2015. This new data base seeks to satisfy the stakeholders and policy makers’ needs who are very keen in the quantity and the quality of the localized information on incomes distribution.

The main results of FILOSOSFI show that the poverty income rate is highest inside the “town-center” of large urban areas, where poverty particularly affects single-parent families, large families and young families, and also outside the urban areas. Inside municipalities, the income poverty rate in the districts covered by urban policy ranged from 37% in Paris and its region to over 47% in the south of France.