What links can we make between the level of student vulnerability and the type of resources available to individuals (family solidarity, social aid, work, etc.)? Based on a series of surveys carried out at the University of Angers in 2008, 2011 and 2022, this article aims to examine the increase in social insecurity over the last 15 years in the light of the reconfiguration of the system that protects students against a number of risks (financial, relational, psychological, etc.). While student aid systems in Europe are converging towards a strengthening of the role of the market (Antonucci, 2014), our results show that in France it is above all the role of the family that has been reinforced. Behind the retreat of the welfare state and the gradual undermining of public solidarity, we show the extent to which social inequalities between students are widening.

What links can we make between the level of student vulnerability and the type of resources available to individuals (family solidarity, social aid, work, etc.)? Based on a series of surveys carried out at the University of Angers in 2008, 2011 and 2022, this article aims to examine the increase in social insecurity over the last 15 years in the light of the reconfiguration of the system that protects students against a number of risks (financial, relational, psychological, etc.). While student aid systems in Europe are converging towards a strengthening of the role of the market (Antonucci, 2014), our results show that in France it is above all the role of the family that has been reinforced. Behind the retreat of the welfare state and the gradual undermining of public solidarity, we show the extent to which social inequalities between students are widening.