The distances they travel weigh heavily on the shoulders of young people living in rural France. The distance and the scarcity of public transport have consequences not only on their daily lives, but also on their health and their education.
According to an Ifop poll for the association Chemins d'avenirs and the think tank Institut Terram , 30% of older young people in rural areas had to forgo going to their place of study due to transportation difficulties. 26% had to cancel a medical appointment.
However, nearly half of them (48%) wish to continue living in the countryside, with this desire to stay even stronger the higher their standard of living. But commuting appears to be a major obstacle for these residents of "sparsely populated" and "very sparsely populated" municipalities , representing 88% of all municipalities.
Transport options are less plentiful in rural areas. 53% of young people in rural areas report being poorly served by the bus network and 62% by the train. This is three times more than their urban counterparts.
Car dependency is significant from the age of obtaining a driver's license. Among young rural people aged 18 to 29, 69% rely on a car daily, compared to 38% of young urban adults. "This dependency creates vulnerability, particularly for 7 out of 10 young rural people over 25 (67%) who say they are at risk of losing their jobs if their current mode of transport is compromised ," the study's authors emphasize.
At the end of the day, rural residents lost significantly more time commuting: an average of 2 hours and 37 minutes per day. That's 42 minutes more than for young urban adults.
An important issue in the choice of higher education
The issue of mobility takes on a new dimension when it comes to choosing a field of study for higher education, given that 70% of post-secondary programs are located in major metropolitan areas. Young adults must therefore adapt and cope with the higher cost of living in large cities.
These constraints are a source of distress. The survey reveals that young people in rural areas are more affected by mental health problems : 76% say they have experienced intense periods of "stress, nervousness or anxiety" , 49% speak of episodes of depression, and 35% say they have had suicidal thoughts.
These issues, taken up again during a previous Provox campaign (see pages 13 & 18), were presented to the European institutions.
