Testimonial "For Christmas, my teens do not dare to ask anything": Christelle, single mother, recounts the financial anxiety of the holidays

Where did the magic of Christmas go?In France, three out of ten people feel concern thinking of the end of year celebrations, according to a recent Ifop survey for the association Donons Solidaires.Low -income households are the most affected.""As soon as I hear about Christmas, it is anxiety,"" confirms Christelle Minguy, 45, who answered the call for testimonies of Franceinfo on the difficulties of gift purchases.""I mean on behalf of women and men who assume their kids alone,"" said this mother of six, including three still dependent, aged 17, 14 and 6 years old.

Divorced, then separated from the father of her last child, Christelle settled in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) a few months before the start of the COVVI-19 crisis.For Christmas Eve, she dreams of spoiling her children and making them forget the hardness of everyday life.Too bad if she has to forget herself, like so many other parents who are struggling to finish the month.Here is his testimony.

""While Christmas is coming, I still don't know what I will be able to offer my children.My youngest is preparing her list for weeks.She cuts the 'tacalogues' as she says and sticks the toys she wants to order to Santa Claus.Usually, I do it early, I too, from October.The gifts cost me an arm, but it's so magical to see the children whisper 'thank you, Santa Claus'.This year, will I be able to manage to hear this?

For the moment, I cannot afford any gap.My employer is in receivership, my salary was paid deferred, I have late rents and I finished November in their open.For three months, I have not eaten at noon to be sure to fill the plate with my loulous.

As December 24 approach, anxiety rises.My 14 year old son dreams of a computer to become a graphic designer.But I can't afford it.With her 17 -year -old sister, they didn't ask me for this year.They probably do not dare, for fear of bothering me twice as much.

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I will probably go looking for small cheap to action or gifi stuff.There is Emmaüs too, but I have to be careful with second -hand gifts: the other kids quickly know where the clothes come from, for example, and I don't want us to make fun of my children.Usually Christmas is the time of the year when I put a point of spoiling them.I blame myself, vis-à-vis them.All this stresses me.

Toys offered by the Red Cross

When I was married, it was the most beautiful moment of the year.I loved choosing the tree, the most beautiful, the biggest.I bought a Christmas Eve outfit and the five children I had at home.Then, for the New Year, we received in our Great Longère, in the Nantes countryside.We were doing the new one all night.

Since he threw me outside, in the middle of the night, with my car and two bags of clothes, I have survived.I fought for two and a half years to recover custody of my children.I still fight to recover half of the Longère and alimony.I suffered psychological violence from another man, the father of my little one, whom I had met when I was weak and lost.I wanted to get away from him and landed in Saint-Nazaire, in 2019, for a new life, for my children and me.

Before the covid-19, I had found a canvassing job at home.With the pandemic, it is impossible to go to people and the company has flowed.At the end of 2020, I found myself at the RSA.Direction a food distribution of the Red Cross.I couldn't even afford to buy a hot coat for my louloute.The welcome was wonderful.I was left to serve me in clothes but also in toys, that I was able to offer my daughter for Christmas.

We did Christmas Eve at my brother, in Ille-et-Vilaine.I didn't want to go.

Like every year, my daughter who is in high school asked me for a new phone.His no longer worked.The only solution I found was a rental, with commitment over 24 months.Fifteen euros per month, in addition to the package.Almost painless at the moment, but much more expensive over time.Poverty maintains poverty.

My children, my battle

This year, we have to spend on December 25 with my parents, in Carquefou, an hour's drive.I have resumed a little bit of the beast, since March, thanks to a commercial position in the building.I was hired in the minimum wage, with the promise of beautiful commissions.Unfortunately, the box is sinking and I am pushed towards the exit, in conventional rupture.The adventure will stop in the coming weeks.I am tired of always having to try to bounce back.

When you are a solo parent, you carry at arm's length.My children realize that their mom is stressed and tired, but I try to preserve them.When they see that I don't eat, I tell them I nibbled on something before.It is hard psychologically and physically.On the days of fed up, I'm going on the beach, screaming facing the sea.

It's not easy either for my loulous.I can't afford to take them to dance, cinema or swimming pool.I sometimes have to draw in their lean pocket money, at the end of the month, for the races.Even the bus is stress: I just give them a ticket, to validate only if they see a controller.

When you have little, money becomes an overwhelming mental charge.I have almost 1,400 euros in electricity debts, which earned me a power cut and a change of supplier.I have more than 2,000 euros in rent unpaid, to the point of having received a letter from bailiff giving me two months to regularize the situation.

My children have to eat, clothes and a roof.They grow in a dignified apartment, with three bedrooms, near the city center and the sea.With APLs (personalized housing assistance), I have 550 euros in rent.I prefer to pay that to take them to the cities of Saint-Nazaire.For the moment, they are not unhappy, they have the joy of living and work well in class.I offered a good life to the three big ones, I want the same for the last three.They are my strength.Without them, I would have abandoned for a long time.

With a little luck, my situation will soon manage.I just found a new work as a telephone advisor in the building.I will work from my house and I will be paid for the call.For that, I had to buy a used computer and a standardist helmet.I believe it strong.I also count on my 2,000 euros in contractual rupture, which will mop part of my rent debts, so as not to be expelled at the end of the winter break.

For the moment, I cling to these perspectives.I get up with dollars in my eyes, like a cartoon character.I tell myself that one day, it will smile at me and I can make beautiful gifts.Christmas magic may come back.""