Adèle, a 24-year-old baker with a permanent, full-time contract, reveals her salary at the end of the month
Adèle works full-time in a neighborhood bakery in Pantin. After several career changes, she has found a daily routine she enjoys, between making bread and interacting with customers. In her story, she reveals her salary, details her expenses, and explains how she balances leisure, savings, and future plans.
While some are still hesitating between two slices of toast for breakfast, Adèle goes from kneading the dough to baking, then to selling. At 24, this baker works at Debout les pains! in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis. In an interview with Le Monde, she describes her daily life and reveals her monthly salary. An income that allows her to enjoy Paris while planning for the future.
A salary of 1,900 euros for 35 hours per week
Adèle has a full-time permanent contract, working 35 hours a week. She earns €1,900 a month, sometimes with a bonus for overtime. She considers her situation fortunate, while many young people of her generation face difficulties.
But her enthusiasm isn't solely due to the amount received. In this neighborhood bakery, which makes organic sourdough bread, the tasks are shared. Sales, washing up, kneading, or shaping: the entire team of five participates, including the managers. This ensures variety in their workdays, preventing them from being confined to a single role.
This job, however, requires stamina. The standing work, the noise, and the necessary concentration can take their toll. Despite this physical fatigue, Adèle enjoys making a tangible product that she finds both beautiful and good, and bringing joy to her customers.
Outings, rent, and 500 euros in savings
As for her budget, the young woman lives with three other girls in a shared apartment near the Buttes-Chaumont park. Her rent, all inclusive, amounts to 540 euros per month. She also manages to save around 500 euros each month, which leaves her some room for her daily expenses and leisure activities.
A coffee, an exhibition, a lecture, or something to eat in town: these small daily pleasures now have their place in her life. A significant change for someone who grew up in a very frugal family, where going out to restaurants and the cinema was not part of the routine.
This freedom is sometimes accompanied by guilt. Her father, however, encourages her to enjoy what she earns: "It's good, you're treating yourself." For Adèle, these moments also represent a way of taking care of herself, after years of studies during which she didn't always have enough to eat.
The bakery, a path she continues to explore
Before donning her apron, Adèle explored dietetics, arts and crafts, and biology. She finally obtained her CAP (vocational qualification) in baking as an independent candidate, relying on internships, videos, and practice.
Today, she appreciates her work environment, without considering her future as set in stone. Having re-enrolled on Parcoursup, she dreams of two part-time jobs: one in a bakery to continue making bread and, why not, develop another business. The next step is yet to be shaped!
