In 2005, the Fondation de France asked me to do a report on substandard housing in Paris. I worked with several families living in Belleville. Each of them lived in a hovel they rented out for 800 Euros a month. They cannot live decently, in confined spaces with ruined bathrooms without hot water. Children suffer from lead poisoning and can’t be treated since the parents have no money to spend on medicine. Around 15 000 families are living like this in Paris.

Caption: A young girl helping her sister with her homework.