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About us
Our mission
Understand, analyze, and prevent financial vulnerabilities
No one is immune to situations of vulnerability: it's a major issue in our society. A significant proportion of French people live a daily life of constant deprivation and decisions about money, even in an area as vital as health.
Having a job does not prevent fragility. In fact, studies regularly show that employees experience situations of personal or work-related fragility. Work-life balance raises a number of issues. Addressing these different dimensions is essential to solving the work-life equation. For example, economic vulnerability is the result of objective causes (loss of income, cost of living inflation, excessive health costs, family problems, etc.) and subjective causes (budget management, need for support, etc.).
In this context, Audencia and Malakoff Humanis have decided to combine their expertise by developing a research-action program. The objectives of the program are to deepen the knowledge of situations of vulnerability, to analyze the needs and expectations of workers, to define courses of action, and to raise awareness in society by disseminating the knowledge generated.
The first research chair created by Audencia in 2007 was in the Action Research Program on Vulnerability. The work initially focused on microfinance, leading to studies on personal microcredit systems in France or microfinance crises around the world. In 2017, the research topics were extended to the analysis of other forms of vulnerability, with specific work on caregivers.
Since 2023, the work has continued with Malakoff Humanis in the form of an annual program on corporate vulnerabilities. This program is made up of a team of multidisciplinary experts (researchers, professors, study managers, sociologists) who act as a link between the expectations of Malakoff Humanis, individuals and operational research.
Vulnerability must be understood as a concept...
- Universal: Everyone is potentially exposed
- Contextual: We are only vulnerable in a given context.
- Structural: We are unequally exposed to vulnerability
- Individual: Given the same exposure, some will be more affected than others.
- Reversible: Can be acted upon
Our goals are to contribute to the development of knowledge and practices in the field of vulnerability, to provide a space for collaborative multi-stakeholder reflection, and to promote the transfer and application of knowledge and skills.