YHP FRANCE – L’Ascenseur

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Location

Île de France (around Paris) and Hauts-de-France in the north on France.

Timing

2020-2025

The local context

In France, it takes about six generations for low-income families to reach the general population's average income. This figure is higher than the OECD average and significantly higher than in Scandinavia.

When it comes to finding work, young people from low-income families frequently face discrimination. According to a 2010 study, 13% of minority applicants would get a job interview as a result of an anonymous resume. When the name and address were mentioned, the chance of getting an interview dropped to only 2.4%.

Discrimination traps young people in poverty, with serious long-term health consequences. World leaders have highlighted the 'vicious cycle' in which NCDs and their risk factors worsen poverty while contributing to rising NCD rates, posing a threat to public health as well as economic and social development.

Our objectives

Our goal is to improve the educational and employment outlooks for + 1,000 young people from disadvantaged and rural areas, aged 12-25. We will also support the local activities of L’Ascenseur all across the national territory.

Our programme

AstraZeneca is a co-founding partner of L’Ascenseur, the first coalition fighting for more equal opportunities and more social justice in France. Composed of 20 non-profits gathered in the heart of Paris, near the symbolic Bastille, L’Ascenseur envision a society where the social, cultural or geographical background is no longer a condition for the youth to access education, employment, culture and sport. The coalition also promote civic engagement as a solution to build more ties between communities.

Through L’Ascenseur, we are working with four main non-profits to support, welcome, inform, guide and develop young people‘s employment outlook:

  • ViensVoirMonTaf, the network of youth without network, to help young people achieve high quality and appropriate internships

  • Télémaque, to develop the potential of secondary school students and apprentices who come from modest backgrounds through a dual school-business tutoring program

  • Article 1, to support and help young people from working class backgrounds to reach academic and professional success.

  • La Cravate Solidaire, to increase chances of success at job interviews by providing professional clothing and coaching support.

In parallel, AstraZeneca’s YHP is a key partner for the development of L’Ascenseur in Les Hauts de France region, taking the concept to an under-resourced region that already hosts our Dunkirk site.  This will form the base for a grouping of local associations fighting for equality of opportunity, working closely with local schools and universities.

Our partners

ViensVoirMonTaf is a non-profit association created in 2015 to offer third-grade internships to « REP » students (formely ZEP) whose families have few connections, by connecting them with professionals.

Télémaque encourages socio-cultural openness, helps build self-confidence, improves youth achievements and knowledge of the professional world

Article1 works for a society where orientation, success in studies and professional integration do not depend on social origins, economic and cultural heritage

La Cravate Solidaire  collects professional outfits from businesses and individuals for young people to use and coaches them to achieve job interviews

References:

1. https://www.oecd.org/social/action-needed-to-tackle-stalled-social-mobility.htm

2. https://www.povertyactionlab.org/evaluation/discrimination-hiring-and-anonymous-cvs-france-cv-anonymes

3. Behaghel Luc, Bruno Crépon and Thomas Le Barbanchon, “Unintended Effects of Anonymous Résumés”, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2015, 7(3): 1–27, 2015.

4. https://www.who.int/global-coordination-mechanism/ncd-themes/poverty-development/en/