{"id":27824,"date":"2025-02-18T15:25:41","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T14:25:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/evolution-de-la-consommation-lexemple-francais"},"modified":"2025-11-28T09:28:46","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T08:28:46","slug":"the-evolution-of-consumption-the-french-example","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/lobservatoire-cetelem-de-la-consommation\/consumption-in-europe-the-quest-for-enjoyment-holds-firm\/the-evolution-of-consumption-the-french-example","title":{"rendered":"The evolution of consumption: the French example"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

THE INCOME\/AGE\/GENERATION MODEL<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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An econometric model that projects consumption of each category of item \u2013 i.e., by calculating budget coefficients \u2013 has been developed to explain the distribution of household spending according to age, generation and income effects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The age effect<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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This reflects variations in consumption at different stages of people\u2019s lives: young people spend a large proportion of their budget on education and equipment, while older people spend more on health and savings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The generation effect<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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This captures the structural differences specific to each cohort, which are linked to historical or cultural factors, such as digital habits or food preferences, and have a lasting influence on their behaviours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The income effect<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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This describes the way in which households allocate their resources according to their standard of living, in accordance with typical budgeting rules (e.g., Engel\u2019s law, which states that as income increases, the percentage spent on food decreases).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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This econometric model uses cross-cutting historical panel data from consumer surveys (in this case, the INSEE\u2019s annual national accounts and family budget surveys) to analyse these relationships<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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By focusing on long-term structural trends, these coefficients allow future budget allocation to be projected, taking into account demographic changes (population aging) and changes in income distribution (neutralized in this case). This type of model is particularly useful for anticipating long-term consumption shifts in a developed economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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LIMITATIONS OF THE MODEL<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The model\u2019s coefficients are defined according to the age, generation and income variables, without considering period effects such as economic cycles and macroeconomic shocks, which generate variations in the relative prices of goods or fluctuations in income by class, as well as variations in supply strategies, regulations, technological breakthroughs, etc. Using expert hypotheses to take these factors and period variables into account allows alternative consumption scenarios to be established item by item based around the structural age-income-generation trend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Classification of unavoidable and discretionary expenses<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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The budget coefficient of an item represents the proportion of total consumption that is spent on that item.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Committed expenses<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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According to the INSEE definition, committed expenses are household outgoings governed by a contract that would be difficult to renegotiate in the short term. These expenses display the lowest price elasticity (demand for such items holds up when prices rise).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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They include the following expense items:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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  • Accommodation expenses, as well as those relating to water, gas, electricity and other fuels used in homes.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Telecommunications services.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • School canteen costs.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • TV services (TV licence, subscription to paid channels).<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Insurance (excluding life insurance).<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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  • Financial services (excluding life insurance).<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    In order to factor in social constraints that are not classed as contractual commitments, convention dictates that essentially unavoidable expenditure items must be added to the committed expenses category. These include:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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    • All communication expenses.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • Healthcare expenses.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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    • Education expenses.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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      Discretionary expenses and leisure expenses<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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      Any remaining expenditure is split between leisure expenses and optional expenses, also known as discretionary, which households can choose between.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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      Discretionary expenses include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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      • Personal effects and care products.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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      • Transport.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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      • Furniture, housewares and day-to-day household upkeep.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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      • Clothing and footwear.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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      • Food and non-alcoholic drinks.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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        Leisure expenses include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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        • Hotels, cafes and restaurants.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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        • Leisure and culture.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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        • Alcoholic drinks and tobacco.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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          Other expenses include:<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
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          Leisure expenses include:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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          • Social protection.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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          • Life insurance.<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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          • Other services.<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
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            \n Fig 37 – Distribution of the French household budget\n <\/p>\n \n \n Download this infographic for your presentations\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n

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            \n \"Compares\n \n Context:\nPercentage distribution of the budget by consumption item, years 1992, 2019, 2020, 2024*, 2030** (*estimates, **forecasts).\nVisuals: five stacked columns representing: constraints, arbitrable, leisure, other services. Each column is segmented into specific line items.\nMain data (totals by major category)\n\u2022\t1992: Constraints 35.3%, Arbitrable 41%, Leisure 19.9%, Other 3.7%.\n\u2022\t2019 : 40,8 %, 36,3 %, 17,5 %, 5,3 %.\n\u2022\t2020 : 43,5 %, 35,5 %, 15,5 %, 5,5 %.\n\u2022\t2024* : 42,1 %, 34,1 %, 18,2 %, 5,6 %.\n\u2022\t2030 : 43,8 %, 32,4 %, 18 %, 5,8 %.\nSynthetic reading:\nThe share of “constrained” expenses is steadily increasing, while the share of “arbitrable” expenses is decreasing. Leisure remains stable.\nSource: C-Ways \/ INSEE, conventions and calculations; 2024 estimates, 2030 forecasts.\n <\/span>\n <\/figure>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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            KEY DATA<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
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            • 9 out of 10 Europeans<\/strong> would consider consuming less<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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            • 3 in 4<\/strong> would be prepared to consume differently<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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            • 4 out of 10<\/strong> buy more reconditioned goods than they did 10 years ago<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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            • 1 in 2<\/strong> are happy to buy products made far from where they live<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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            • 2 in 3<\/strong> attach little or no importance to brands<\/li>\n<\/div>\n\n
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            • 4 out of 10<\/strong> make more non-material purchases than 10 years ago<\/li>\n<\/div><\/ul>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              THE INCOME\/AGE\/GENERATION MODEL An econometric model that projects consumption of each category of item \u2013 i.e., by calculating budget coefficients \u2013 has been developed to explain the distribution of household spending according to age, generation and income effects. The age effect This reflects variations in consumption at different stages of people\u2019s lives: young people spend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1925,"featured_media":27644,"parent":27767,"menu_order":13,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"t-etude-chapitre.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27824","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1925"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27824"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33576,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27824\/revisions\/33576"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/27767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/observatoirecetelem.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}