{"id":1156,"date":"2026-02-22T15:54:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T20:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/?p=1156"},"modified":"2026-02-22T15:58:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T20:58:50","slug":"intersectionality-and-precarity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/2026\/02\/22\/intersectionality-and-precarity\/","title":{"rendered":"Intersectionality and Precarity"},"content":{"rendered":"
By <\/span>Sophie Bouchard<\/a>, Student of social work at UQAM<\/span><\/div>\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n

These days, everything is going up: our rent, the cost of food, our tuition fees, and so on. And what increases for everyone has an exponential impact on some people, those who are already in vulnerable positions. Capitalism and the government deliberately abandon certain groups and act as if they do not exist in order to better exploit them. This text aims to highlight the realities of various people who are often forgotten, so that we do not forget them in our own student struggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, choosing to pursue post-secondary education is choosing precarity. According to a study conducted by the UQ\u00c0M School of Social Work in 2025, 44% of respondents reported living in a precarious financial situation [1]. This situation is completely absurd. And despite this, so-called government \u201csolutions\u201d such as Financial Assistance for Studies (AFE) fail to adapt to new needs, in addition to not even spending all the funds allocated to support the student population[2].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the precarity caused by our studies, we are currently living in a society that only continues to accumulate multiple forms of oppression. Whether we are talking about systemic racism, patriarchy, homophobia, or fascism, everything is getting worse. And for people who experience the consequences of multiple oppressions, it is even worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u201cCanada,\u201d in 2020, the vast majority of racialized groups had poverty rates much higher than those of white people [3]. Faced with systemic racism in various Quebec institutions and discrimination in job and housing searches, racialized people experience much greater financial hardship. In \u201cQuebec,\u201d they are therefore much more likely to need a job during their post-secondary studies, partly because they often live in neighbourhoods where average income is lower than in the rest of the province [4]. In addition, these individuals risk experiencing different forms of discrimination during their studies. Racialized students are thus more likely to face difficulties, financial among others, related both to their status as students and to the various oppressions produced by racist systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For their part, young people from the LGBTQIA2+ community are also much more likely to experience precarious situations. In 2019, nearly 30% of youth experiencing homelessness identified as part of this community [5]. They are more at risk of facing precarious situations such as being kicked out of their parents\u2019 home following a coming out, experiencing discrimination in various environments, or being profiled by the police [6]. As a result, these individuals often have to move into apartments earlier, and given the cost of rent, they must devote a large portion of their income to housing [7]. During their studies, a significant financial burden is therefore added to their shoulders, on top of all the situations related to homophobia that they are at risk of experiencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, people living in poverty also face several challenges, including access to post-secondary education. Indeed, during the 2023\u20132024 academic year, there was a 24.9% graduation gap between students from disadvantaged and advantaged backgrounds [8]. The \u201cQuebec\u201d education system is a three-tier system that categorizes \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d students, but above all distinguishes those who have the financial means from those who do not. Access to better education is therefore reserved for people who can afford it. Statistics show this clearly: a person\u2019s socio-economic status has an impact on their chances of obtaining a diploma. And with a government that continues to raise tuition fees, CEGEP and university are becoming less and less accessible to students from less advantaged backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we take into account the different forms of oppression people experience, which can accumulate, we realize that being a student affects people living in precarious situations much more severely. Obviously, not all forms of oppression could be addressed in this article, but that does not mean they are less important or have fewer consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the context of a campaign against a government implementing austerity measures and against a system that favours the wealthy, it is therefore essential to never forget that some people experience forms of precarity different from our own. Fighting for an accessible education system also means fighting against all forms of oppression and for access to education for the most precarious people. Government austerity places an enormous burden on the most vulnerable, while those who do not pay their fair share, the rich and large corporations, are the ones who should be paying. A struggle that is not intersectional will end up reproducing what the government does: oppressing minorities. So let us fight together for an education system that allows for real equality of opportunity and that recognizes the different adversities faced by the most precarious people. Let\u2019s take to the streets on March 27 to show our discontent and demonstrate to the government what student solidarity can achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1] https:\/\/travailsocial.uqam.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/57\/2025\/06\/Precarite_financiere_ETS_UQAM.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2] https:\/\/www.ledevoir.com\/actualites\/education\/811249\/education-pres-demi-milliard-inutilise-aide-financiere-etudes-six-ans<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3] https:\/\/www150.statcan.gc.ca\/n1\/fr\/pub\/36-28-0001\/2023008\/article\/00002-fra.pdf?st=bEb4f5x_<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4] https:\/\/journals.sfu.ca\/cje\/index.php\/cje-rce\/article\/view\/5027\/2949<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5] https:\/\/www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca\/fr\/article\/l-itinerance-au-canada#Jeunes<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6] https:\/\/conseil-lgbt.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/FITI1_Identifier-des-facteurs-de-precarite-domiciliaire-ou-ditinerance.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]https:\/\/conseil-lgbt.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/FITI2_Reconnaitre-litinerance-cachee.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8]https:\/\/statistique.quebec.ca\/fr\/produit\/publication\/indicateurs-progres-ecart-diplomation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These days, everything is going up: our rent, the cost of food, our tuition fees, and so on. And what increases for everyone has an exponential impact on some people, those who are already in vulnerable positions. Capitalism and the government deliberately abandon certain groups and act as if they do not exist in order […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-1156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-74","tag-sophie-bouchard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1157,"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1156\/revisions\/1157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/debordement.crues.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}