How can we explain that life expectancy is the lowest in the two most popular, if not poor, communes of Hauts-de-Seine, Nanterre and Villeneuve-la-Garenne? The answer is already in the question.
Conversely, it is the longest in Vaucresson for women and Saint-Cloud for men. The gap is glaring with these two well-known cities.
A woman lives on average six years longer in Vaucresson than in Villeneuve (89.5 against 83.4 years). The difference is the same for men. An inhabitant of Saint-Cloud can expect to live on average to 84.1 years, while those who live in Nanterre have a life expectancy of 77.6 years, or 6.5 years less.
In Villeneuve, the regional health observatory (ORS) confirms that general mortality is “significantly higher at the regional level”. He paints a picture of a town where the social indicators are in the red: an unemployment rate of 18.4% (6 points higher than the regional average), a poverty rate of 24% (from 8.7 points above the regional average), one in five young people aged 20 to 24 without a job, etc.
The ORS also details the pathologies of the population. In particular, more than 8% of the population of this city in the north of Hauts-de-Seine is treated for diabetes against 5.2% at the Ile-de-France level and 6.1% in the department.
“The explanation for these figures is very social. Villeneuve has had a welcoming culture for several decades, analyzes Pascal Pelain, the mayor (UDI). In addition, we have a shortage of doctors in the city. Fighting against poverty and for better access to healthcare means fighting against such a low life expectancy. Our town planning projects and the creation of a health center go in this direction. “
Employees on the front line since the Covid
For PCF municipal councilor Gabriel Massou, a town like Villeneuve, with a high proportion of workers, employees and people without a diploma, is necessarily more exposed to health problems. “These are cities, which concentrate those who are currently on the front line ( Editor’s note: during the health crisis), such as people who work in cleaning and maintenance. We saw it in the spring with a peak in mortality in Villeneuve or Gennevilliers, ”commented the elected official.
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In Nanterre, social inequalities and life expectancy are also closely linked. In the city prefecture, unemployment exceeds 16% and the poverty rate 21%, a little less than in Villeneuve but, overall, the standard of living of households remains lower than the rest of the region.
“I am, alas, little surprised. The successive investigations lead to the same conclusions, comments Didier Debord, delegated municipal councilor (PS) for health and prevention. We can live in the richest department in France, in terms of health, there are flagrant territorial inequalities. Poor working conditions, pollution, arduous work and poor housing play an obvious role. The way of life too… ”
A high mortality rate in Nanterre due in part to the homeless center
However, Nanterre has on its territory the reception and hospital care center (Cash) and the largest accommodation center for homeless people near Paris (the Chapsa). “The mortality rate is very high because the place of death is taken into account, argues Didier Debord. In addition, the population of nursing homes and the hospital’s accommodation service is well taken into account in the calculations, which also explains and favors this high rate. “
The ORS confirms this diagnosis. “It is always the workers, who live the shortest, and the executives and higher intellectual professions who have the longest life expectancy,” says the study. These inequalities are all the more unjust as they are coupled with a number of years of life in good health (without disability), which is all the more reduced as one moves down the social scale. “
