ARE FRENCH PEOPLE LAZY?
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 17 май 2024
- With France's retirement age changing from 62 to 64 years old, the stereotype of French people being lazy is all over the news. Let's talk about French history, the right to strike, French productivity and their work-life balance and try to determine an answer to, "Are French people lazy?" and one major cultural difference that impacts the way the world sees the French.
▶️▶️ FEELING LOST IN LIFE? FIND YOUR PURPOSE and get career clarity via the best online test: bit.ly/3maCt3r
👕 / / M E R C H: bit.ly/3wl6RZa
👜 / / SHOP MY FAVES: www.amazon.com/shop/ouiinfrance
eGuide: 75 BEGINNER FRANCE TIPS for a STANDOUT TRIP: bit.ly/3gzSWY5
☕ Enjoy what I do? Buy me a coffee!: ko-fi.com/ouiinfrance
💌 SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER (and get a FREE guide of DOs & DON'Ts for travel to France): bit.ly/3p790nK
📖 Get my BLOGGING FOR BEGINNERS eBOOK: bit.ly/2SuesFD
SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL: ruclips.net/user/ouiinfrance?s...
How did I end up in France? My backstory: • Why I moved from the U...
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Salut! I'm Diane, an American who has lived in France since 2012 and the creator of the blog/RUclips channel Oui In France. My channel's focus is "Everyday French life and beyond." I make videos on French culture topics, France vs. US culture comparisons, food, travel, language, and give you my thoughts about what it's like living in France as an American in the Loire Valley. Thanks for being here and if you enjoy this sort of thing, please share with friends and subscribe!
❤️ / / B L O G
Oui In France: www.ouiinfrance.com/
▶️ / / F O L L O W
👍 Facebook: / ouiinfrance
📷 Insta: / ouiinfrance
▶️ *HEALTH, FITNESS & FOOD 💪
Wildgrain ($10 off + free croissants): bit.ly/3yJ0hhP
Red Light Therapy: bit.ly/32cn0Wk
Cocofloss ($10 off): rwrd.io/vppclyh?s
▶️ TRAVEL ✈️
Plum Guide: prf.hn/l/78alGDJ
Send My Bag ($5 OFF): bit.ly/3q5wHh1
Chrysalis Cardi (multiway garment): bit.ly/3kHh9MT
Wise (formerly TransferWise): wise.prf.hn/l/78YJB4x
▶️ FASHION 👚
Everlane: www.everlane.com/r/b8kn5j
Encircled: bit.ly/2YK0mxj
Nisolo: nisolo.uvwgb9.net/DV0Kvq
Disclosure: The description box contains affiliate links where I may make a small commission on purchases made through my links, at no additional cost to you.
#frenchculture #francenews #frenchstereotypes
Check out my eGuide: 75 BEGINNER FRANCE TIPS for a STANDOUT TRIP: bit.ly/3gzSWY5
I think it would be interesting to talk about the draconian security measures supposedly only implemented for the Olympics 2024 , but it’s very clear that those are going to stay well beyond the games as it’s already been voted, and the attack on individual civil liberties will be considerably changing the face of a France …
My coworker who knows I'm part French, came to ask me what was happening in France, her husband's niece is in Brussels, France (🤣) and they are wondering if she is in danger. I asked her to stop watching Fox News and explained that Brussels is in Belgium, and that's another country. "No! They speak French", she answered. I said we kicked them out of France centuries ago because they told bad jokes and loved oysters. She was relieved. Desolé les belges, je vous aime. 🤣😂
🤣Does she know that english is not only spoken in USA ? Une lumière votre collègue ! Oui on aime les Belges ! J'habite Lille......
@@leseize26 Vous n'avez aucune idée de l'étendue du manque d'éducation de l'américain moyen quant il s'agit du reste du monde. Etant franco-américain, et ayant grandit dans l'expatriation à travers le monde, je suis à la fois heureux de mon sort et consterné par l'ignorance de mes compatriotes d'outre-Atlantque. Meme les jeunes de mon âge, pourtant plus connectés, ont des connaissances anecdotales du reste de la planète. 😮 Ahurissant!
Boudou la culture générale chez certains... Vraiment effrayant en fait !
@@Sayitlikitiz101 Malheureusement, si, je savais, j'ai de la famille aux USA et j'ai moi-même été en poste à NY de 2011 à 2013 dans le cadre de mon travail. Très bon souvenir (50 Lexington Avenue, c'est gravé !) et j'y retourne régulièrement, j'y ai de très bon amis également, plus cultivés !
Il y a 20 ans de cela de lointains cousins des USA viennent pour la première fois en France pour une cousinade. Il y avait dans le groupe deux étudiantes qui avouaient avoir été surprises de devoir passer au dessus de la mer pour venir en France... Je ne m'en suis toujours pas remise.
As an American who worked at a multi-national corporation in the past, I've worked with quite a few French people, and they've all been extremely hard working and very good at their jobs.
As a French citizen who’s worked with Americans, I’ve been told the same. The problem is you don’t judge the productivity of a country by how well some individuals work, but by how integrated the whole society is in the labor market and how much of the wealth created you reallocate on welfare, social spending… we still have high numbers of unemployment, those who are actually working do 35h a week, leave at 60-62 and finance healthcare, education, the retirement system and the biggest and most generous European social spending (in terms of % of the gdp) for the rest. It is unsustainable as it is (boomers are retiring) and hard working people get over 50% of their salary taken in taxes. I understand that Americans and foreigners watch what’s happening in France while fantasizing on that old French idealism where people are working less, enjoying life and smoking a cigarette by the Eiffel Tower, the thing is we’re just waking up from that dream that was only possible by creating more debt for our children and overtaxing wealth and production to the point where French industries would rather cross the border and take their business elsewhere.
@@redab2169 our system would be working just fine if we were'nt paying wellfare to more and more unproductive migrants. 52% of foreigners are ununployed and they get everything for free. So instead of punishing even more working people , let's not import more "allocataires du RSA".
@@redab2169 On t'a reconnu, Manu !
@@sledllo3231 calme toi Françoise Degois
@@redab2169 I think that Macron really understands this & his desire to add a couple of years to the age of retirement is specifically targeting a solution to this problem. In general people live longer now than used to be the case & most of us are still able bodied & healthy enough to continue to contribute to the work force & therefore to the tax base that is necessary to underwrite French social spending for a little longer. The quality of life will be the same as it has been for some time for working adults without a dramatic assault on the quality of life that everyone will experience if something isn't done. This does not address the unemployment numbers but that is for a different discussion.
I've worked in France for a French company, with almost exclusively French people since 2010. After working in the UK I find the French much more hard working and conscientious than the English on the whole. My employer is the best I have ever worked for and people really do come first.
The whole attitude of the French is different and family and life outside of work comes first, but while they are at work, they give 110%.
❤
I know this is not a video about the pension reform, but something that escapes a lot of non-French commentators is that 64 is the minimum age for retirement, but doesn't guarantee a full pension. For a lot of people, 67 is the effective age to get a pension above the poverty line. And this is not the first time the age of retirement was raised, it used to be 60 not that long ago.
In short, French people see they're being screwed (and lying to them by pretending that EVERYONE will get a pension above 1200€ didn't help). We have a system deemed one of the best in the world... and it's being dismantled.
Interesting
If I want full pension, I have no choice but to work all the way up to 67 (if it's not raised again in the following decades).
hmmm, would you rather work in another country, like the US where FULL retirement is 67 no matter when you started work, where we're lucky if we get 2 weeks paid vacation (many states don't even mandate minimum vacation time), where health insurance coverage for 1 employee can be $800 per month (Kaiser) and $1950 per month for a family of 4 (and Kaiser is one of the lessor expensive ones)..... I could go on and on.... with the benefits the French get that many other countries DON'T offer, especially in the US, where I live. And don't French students have free college tuition? Try to get a 4 year college degree here in the US for less than $50,000 tuition (no counting books and room and board). I know a number of my friends who have been paying their college debt now for more than 10 years! Anybody can call it a loan, but I simply call it a tax. The French are fortunate for many of their benefits. Wish we had some of those here in the states :)
@@dominiqueroche4231 You're right, we'd rather not live there. It can be worse elsewhere... and that's precisely what we want to avoid. We know what we have can be taken away. It's not a complicated concept : we know how much harder life could be if we didn't fight for the system that gives us a better quality of life. So we defend it.
@@dominiqueroche4231 Ah yes, good ol "It's worse elsewhere, so we're not allowed to have anything nice" shitty mentality
As an American, I admire the French's habit of protesting/ having strikes that keep their standard of living high. In the USA, corporations have brainwashed us into doing things that don't increase our standard of living, but increase the corporations profits, things like not using PTO, voting against formations of Unions, insisting we answer phone calls and emails while off the clock.
I agree. It is disgusting how many support the corporations, especially the fact that so many pay so little, even while they make Billions in profit. Some have fallen for this lie that people working a full time job, somehow don't deserve a decent living.
@@jaklg7905 Good for you ! And Dan too !
In Germany. Your boss Cant send you emails from friday 8pm to monday morning. It IS a law. Emails are held on weekends. Email servers get crazy on monday mornings. (Right to disconnect or something like that)
I think americans got screwed. Besides the french and our habbit of striking and protesting (that can also turn against our interest) , most european countries have some sort of universal healthcare system, maternity leave, some protection. I understand american political philosophy and I think they are many very interesting principles and good points reagarding limiting the control of the state but I think health care should not just be left to markets.
Compared to the US or to some extend the UK, strikes are something to be proud of when it's protected by law. But sometimes i would prefer the german way of doing it with more cooperation before the actual strikes. In France it's more showing its muscles then find a way to work together between unions and government. This comment isn't about the pensions reform in particular but a general observation.
I support the French work ethic. Less working hours, more vacation, and still more productive. They have their priorities correct.
That's the whole concept of working smarter rather than working harder. And many French people in reality work longer than the legal 35 hours.
Some other countries in europe are testing 4 day of work per week, and productivity seems to be even better.
Not sure. Productivity is very high in france ok but may be the cause is low productivity activity are impossible now.
Mate that only works bc France exploits 14 African countries known as Francafrique to this day.
Yes, it's the difference: there, people work for a living; in the USA, people live to work. That's the difference between a society where there's social justice and a society where everything goes just for the sake of the buck.
as a french who worked abroad (not the US though) jobs like hotel cleaner or fast food restaurant work. what was expected from me abroad was less than what was expected from me at home. I sometimes had the coworkers complaining to me that I should slow down or the boss would ask more from them.
made no sense to me at the time but now I understand if you're expected to do longer hours and no vacation you can't work so fast or else your health is going to suffer , even worse if you don't have proper acces to healthcare.
Oui c'est très logique. Je n'avais jamais pensé à cela auparavant. Bons arguments .
I really laugh when people realize that giving people more vacations, free time and ways to be a little bit more happy actually makes them wanting to work harder and more. Like it's a ground breaking news that treating people like shit and machines makes things far worse than releasing the leash a bit.
I'm a bit bitter, sorry for the bad language... I just feel like some countries should maybe do a better job for their work ethic because it's proven that stress, anxiety and other things that grinding culture leads to just makes a good system die overtime
People like to do their job well. It you rupture the win/win system, employees will give you poor service, quality. Unfortunately, it's also happening now in France. Because of targets too high, short term profits, no pay raise for the workers (lean management)
The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.
You can be more productive if you're not collapsing from exhaustion, when your life isn't imploding from things that need attention you can't find time for, and if your kids don't have to raise themselves. I haven't heard anything about French employers starving, so I think French people work enough.
Merci!
*3:10** For 2021, in Sweden, Austria, Iceland, Norway, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark and Germany, this number is lower than in France!!! But NOBODY will dare to say these people are lazy...NOBODY! it's just that some Anglo-saxon people love to spread lies and clichés about the French!!!*
Tbf they dont make it known at every law change through strikes lol
But thats diff in culture too
@@erwannthietart3602 Yes different culture: good "slaves"... but at least they have higher wages (and higher income taxes 😵💫)
@@J0HN_D03 i never said i disagreed, i just gave a reason why nobody talks about their "lazyness"
Mostly because people that knows dont spread it all across the world would be a good reason
@@erwannthietart3602 Overall I think anglo-saxons looooove to spread clichés about French people and France. It's "funnier" and more "interesting" than if they would do the same with Dutch, Swedish or Danish people... Usually France doesn't "obey" enough to Uncle Sam and they want to break her down.
@@J0HN_D03 dont bring geopolitics into this we have over 1000 years of rivalry with English people ofc its gonna make more interesting stuff to make fun of.
Its just the origin of the story, but now? Now its the people that either dont know better due to flawed education (the vast majority because well History rarely attracts in our modern world and thats a f***ing shame, or is a history that downgrade Frances influence because its not their country (aka when english peop only learns about their Victories in the hundred years war despite the fact that they lost said conflict which granted France doesnt even talk about anymore because stupid education system, btw we do the same for english people many time ourselves).
Or are jerks, yes the US did go wild after 2003 Irak but ultimately while Frenchbashing is a thing, Its not the US governement which kept it going for this whole time, its the people and the medias directed at those people.
Besides jerks are everywhere and i for once wont ever miss a day where i can absolutely laugh at the UK's mess (Brexit offered and offers alot of material) or the USA's succesful failed state (because theres so many flaws in its 200+ years old constitution they dont wanna remake anew entirely eventhough they laugh about our constitution being a periodical, that we can laugh at the stupidity of their system all year long)
The only advice i can give is find a place to chill, accept that this is our world, and patiently explains stuff before leaving, smart people learn, idiot remains idiots.
Welcome to the internet, you either find rare gems, but mostly finds why Humanity is most likely going to be the reason behind their own extinction
I'm living in France at the moment, and the French, as a people, are definitely not lazy. I find the attitude from people in other countries calling out the French for defending their hard-earned rights rather interesting and disheartening: Instead of saying "the French are lazy/spoiled for wanting xx - look at us, we have it so much worse, they should be grateful," those people might be better off examining the situation and think, "Well, could we do something like this?" It's better to make things better for oneself and future generations, than to be like a "bucket of crabs" and pull others down.
Yes it's definitely not lazy to fight for your rights ^^. It's actually not easy at all, you have to accept to step out of your routine, you lose days of wages, you spend hours standing in the street, sometimes under harsh weather. You also have to educate yourself, somehow get involved in politics and finally it requires organisation to gather people. And, as rights are never definitively acquired, you have to be ready to do it again and again, for you and for later generations !
@@creuvette29 Yes, well said! People don't realize it's not like a holiday- it takes dedication.
Totally agree with you.
Poeple should be able to understand that yeah, we have good things, and thats because we know it that we don't want to lose them without at least making it clear that we arn't ok with it
As a UK person, I can see both sides. In the minimum wage jobs, the old Soviet attitude is often felt ""They pretend to pay us and we pretend to work""
Having worked in France for 2 years, I can say: happy people work very well. 🇺🇸🤝🇫🇷
Hello!
Thank you for your comment!
You're right, and the problem is that so many of them are not happy at all. They don't like their jobs. If we gave them a job they like, we'd see the (positive) difference. Sometimes the problem is not that they're lazy. The problem is that so many of them don't like their jobs.
Thanks for saying French people aren’t lazy. I won’t say the opposite, they’re very hard working, but there are a few things that haven’t been mentioned and that are very important to know:
Half of the country doesn’t work at 35h/week, they have the “cadre” status and work much more, usually from 9am to 7pm or even 8pm.
The retirement age impacts only a minority of the population as we actually all have to work 43 years before being able to retire with the full pension. Meaning that if you start working after a master’s degree at about 24 years old, you’ll go on retirement at 67 anyway.
This age thing has been a symbol to actually protest against the other modifications brought by this new law.
Finally, people are also protesting against Macron’s way of governing, as we say here, as a king. He’s overiding both chambers to impose laws using a specific law allowing governments to do that. The thing is that it’s expected to use it only in few cases but he has been using it 11 times in less than a year and people are outraged by the way this government imposes laws over riding the congress. This results in a democratic crisis since the congress is elected by the people and represents the people. It is expected to vote laws the government wants to implement.
So a large part of the protests are actually protesting against this government, more than just about rising the retirement age.
Please, watch this and you’ll have some surprises, like many European countries actually have more vacation time than France and some other surprises:
ruclips.net/video/CpUO3JARjAc/видео.html
I worked 6 years in Boston in 2 different comoanies, and I can tell you I was working much less than in France.
Maybe Bostonians and these other European countries are working 'smarter' than the French (i.e. less but more productively); Isn't it about quality over quantity? Working from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. raises the question of whether one is being more productive: what has been accomplished during that extra time? Results rule.
Thank you ! As a French, I was searching for this comment!! Foreigners always forget about the "cadre" contract and truly believe that everyone in France works 35/week... which is far from the reality. I am currently working in Switzerland and I can tell you that for a similar position, my friends work more in France.
Brava!!! You summed it up in 2 qutoes: The French work to live not live to work and they prioritize people over profit!
That's really what it comes down to. A very different mentality
That definitely true, I was amazed when my cousin who lives in France told her boss in a financial company that she is quitting because she feels overwork, she was given a month off with pay and reduce workload.
It's also important to mention it's 64 + 43 years of work, so if you start to work at 23, it will be 66 (with a limit at 67). Just before we raised it to 64, the effective age of retirement on average was 63.5.
Yep, some media presented it as 64 is the upper limit, but it's the lower limit. For people who worked at least 43 years.
Considering a perfect career without any gap, that means working as late as 21 years old without interruption all the way to 64.
hopefully you've noticed it !
personnaly i ve began at 24 and even with the previous law i would have to wait 67...
But at 67 you'll earn a "full" rate that is not again the maximum because you would have more at .. 70 so in several ways we can consider having to work more and more for having more (in my case i would be payed about 10% more if stopping at 70 instead 67)
... excuse mon anglais qui me trahi ! (chut, ne le dis à personne)
64 + 43 years of work in France? It's 67 + 45 Years of contribution in Germany. Wake up !!!! The effective age of retirement on average was 63.5y ..... for private sector, if you include public sector its lower. French think it's unfair but most of European think that you should have done your Pension law reform long time ago. French debt is raising and Fitch have just downgraded France because they think the reform of retirement is positive but not good enough. Social benefits its great but Pension expenses are way too expensive, it was time to do something about it. Actually, 64years is not good enough.
@@ginagi9088 I just added some information to be more precise, without any ideological statement, but now you go this way. So Germany right ? They work 34 hours per week on average, 1350h per year vs 1500 in France. If French where as ´productive’ as Germans they would have to work until 70. So you know what's unfair ? Be poor. In Germany 16% of workers (13 Million) are under poverty threshold vs 8% in France. Then debt is hight, but the retirement funds status outlook for the next 5 years says it’s balanced and/or positive. Also, most of this debt is driven by high rates forced by the BCE, and based on 'American only' Rating organisations who always ensure Europe and especially France stays behind. But thanks to you, I'm awake.
@@ginagi9088 If you simp for rich people and want to slave you life away, be free to do so. Don't bring other people on your delusions
The 35h/ per week working time is a sweet POV about France… but the reality is another story…
First, the main part of french employees (usually in private companies) are more about 40-43 h… workers are usually paid the 35 first hours at the « regular rate + an increase of 15% from the 36th to 39th hour.
Which means the real number of hours worked is usually 39h per week but if a task is started, we prefer to finish it if it’s need 1/4 or 1/2 hour (given we don’t have an emergency at home) to start fresh the day after…
I personally work around a half hour every single day (5 days per week) and I am not paid more for this.
Clearly 35 hours per week is a legal baseline. Statistics on actual time spent working shows an average of 39 hours per week worked for full-time jobs in France.
same I work in logistics as a dispatch in Belgium and I work 37h/week but I usually do at least 3 additional hours on the week. We just get the job done
If someone out of France thinks that we are lazy, they truly should question themselves and look at their lives before criticizing others. The fact others nations say that we shouldn't complain because our age retirement is low compared to others countries is getting me so mad. It's not because you (others countries) weren't able/allowed to contest your governement choices that we'll do the same. You're not allowed to criticize the ones that can and use that right to express their discontent. I guess if we're listening to them we should only start complaining when we'll have the same age retirement as them... which is completely dumb. Why would we stop complaining because THEY consider we shouldn't complaining ? Are you losing your mind ? Are you forgetting who you're talking about ? You're talking about french people, stubborn as hell, we'll do as we please ! BAGUETTE
Thanks for your video Diane ! I hope it'll enlighten some closed minded people
Emmanuel Macron's famous "Gaulois refractaires" which was launched as an "insult" to people who were against his vision of France.
An insult that has turned into the pride of many French people.
Yes Gauls and against ultra liberalism.
It's not about stubbornness, remember that people died to earn those rights, it's our duty to prevent their removal.
Bravo !!
Despite the quality of the video, i know it will be a tall order to convince or just inform americans ( especially Fox "news" viewers ).
They basicaly are like the Russians, believing only their source of "news".
The French aren’t lazy! They’re just really smart about working with a very healthy lifestyle
They're funny , i would like to see them works like me in one of the 10 deadliest work , i mean they can work until 70 if it's behind a desk lol , they should try to work with heavy materials like me and every builders 😂😂😂😂 , they're clowns
@@300routasydan2 I think I don't get it, you know that french people do hard jobs too, right ?
France is the country with the worst ratio of fatal accidents at work per inhabitant in Europe.
Lot of french do a lot more than 35 hours a week, builders too. So yes, we want retirement to be as early as possible for these people, taking into account that one in four employees in a difficult job will die before retirement.
Okay i think I really didn't get it tbh, sorry for the answer, I think I missed some context
One cannot know at 25 or 35 his/her physical condition at 65. I, personally, began declining physically in my late 50’s. Fortunately, I belonged to a union with retirement benefits and was able to retire at 55. Had I not had a pension, I would have had to grind on to collect decreased benefits from Social Security at 62. In the interim, from 55-65, I suffered a heart attack and need a knee replacement. I was not lazy during 40 years of employment but society does not see it that way. I educated thousands of people who are upstanding and productive citizens and at 66 1/2 I will collect full social security. It could have come sooner but we are a miserly lot in the US. And if we could withhold earned, deferred benefits until one is nearly in the grave, we would.
There is also one difference you don't mention, and it's a big part of why French workers are efficient : since we have a contract with our boss, we have an impetus to perform - giving a fair wage is the boss' responsibility, fulfilling the objectives is the worker's.
And, after discussing it with US residents, that's the main part of the difference : a French worker will get the job done, one way or another (including : discussing the problem with the team, asking for help, looking for alternative solutions etc.) - during work hours.
Outside of work hours, we have a life to live. Then, you can try and relate how efficient a well-rested worker is compared to a stressed-out overworked one.
Heck, the whole world grilled the French on the 35 hour week, but a couple years later UK banks experimented with the 32-hour week - productivity went through the roof.
thank you sm for this video! I’m so tired of people calling us lazy.. we are not! we just enjoy life and don’t live to work like you said, which is literally normal 😅 (at least for me)
As an American who has worked for decades in France, I would like to point out a few things about French labor conflicts. First, the vast majority of work stoppages take place in public sector companies or administrations. Just a few years back, the SNCF, France's rail network accounted for 20% or all work days lost to labor conflicts. France has an incredibly centralized system, where all important decisions are made in Paris. When I was working in a French university, I was stunned to find that no-one on site has the power to make decisions about budgets or curricula. So strikes are often the only way for French workers to make their voices heard in such a centralized system.
On the retirement front, there is a dizzying array of "caisses" which French workers pay into and their ability to one day collect on their retirement contributions is very uncertain. Some people get very generous retirement benefits, often before the age of 62, especially public servants and employees of the SNCF or EDF (electrical monopoly), while others receive far more modest benefits. Also it should be noted that a large proportion of the people over 55 are no longer employed, while being ineligible for retirement. By lifting the retirement age, this group simply has to make do by whatever means possible until they reach legal retirement age.
I have found most of my French colleagues to be very hard-working.
Actualy the situation in the US is so much more disheartening. So many people work their ass off, but yet can't afford decent housing, healthcare, education, transportation, or even just basic healthy unprocessed food. So many cities left in total shambles, and people left aside. Both our countries value freedom, bon't we don't attach the same meaning to it; I think in the US freedom is more freedom of the individual (or company) even at the expense of others, while in France freedom is to be collectively free from worrying for your life when you get sick, pregnant, fired, retired, disabled, etc. Working is a mean, not an end. Life is meant to be lived with those you love.
There is also a very important factor that has inflamed public opinion: the government has used Article 49 paragraph 3 of the constitution which allows the government to pass a bill without a vote by the French National Assembly. And this while the majority of the assembly was against and that 8 French out of 10 were opposed to the law.
In France, lazy people are called "bourgeois" or "capitalists". Let them exercice their freedom of working in mines, factories, deliveries, etc ! And then we might thing about working more.
As a French citizen working in France for an American company and working daily with US colleagues, very good analysis !
I agree. Now retired (since 2020) I've also worked for a large American employer in both France and Belgium, and with many colleagues and supervisors from the U.S. who usually were here in Europe on two to four year assignments. I've seen quite a few of these American colleagues choose to stay on our side of the ocean at the end of their tour; there must be a reason.
I'm french and i would like to add this important facts : From the age of 50 you are considered too old to work, so it has become impossible to find work from this age, especially for women (the bosses want young women)
with this postponement of the retirement age, this will generate more precariousness. Moreover, those who were to retire at 62 with a full pension lose all their benefits just to do 2 more years.
Thank you. This is why I want to move to France. I feel owned by my mortgage and health insurance here in the US. I want to feel free to enjoy my life every day instead of waiting for the weekend and spending that cleaning and getting ready for the next week.
If we at least went to a 35 hour work week, that would help
I've been living in France since 2009 and am currently in a 35-hour work week job. I still feel like I'm waiting for the weekend and then spending my weekends cleaning, running errands and getting ready for the next week (with everything being closed on Sunday, so Saturday's the only day to get errands run). Maybe it's my job, or the fact that I have a short commute to my countryside village, but I find it difficult to find the time and energy to do stuff during the week. If I lived in a big city, that might make a difference.
The only time I've ever felt work-life balance while living here is while I was working for myself and was lucky enough to have unemployment benefits fill in the gaps when I didn't make enough in a month. Too bad my business didn't grow fast enough to allow me to continue working for myself!
@@mdkinfrance you are right, 35h is still too much, we only have one life ! Plus this doesn't account for commute time.
Lori, what holds you back from taking the plunge?
@Patricia Brooks - Carefree Expat Finances and needing a knee replacement is keeping me from moving. My house is not ready to sell yet, and I want to recover from surgery before making the move.
I'm always astonished how your vidéos are so well balanced to describe the differences between France and USA, without tricky judgements. Each time a great pleasure to watch 🙂
That means a lot, thank you!
You are absolutely right about their view on working to live. I remember a Frenchman telling me that a certain tradesman “only wants to make more money”in a less than flattering tone. It took me by surprise at the time but I now appreciate what he was saying.
Also to be noted is that many people in France work way more than 35h a week, especially if you have the "cadre" status (which is my case). I work on average 40 to 50 hours a week same with many of my coworkers.
I’m French and lazy. I am the pride of France.
Banks, insurances companies as well as private pensions want to cut themselves a piece the €350 000 000 000 cake.
I always appreciate your balance when talking about France, the US , or any other country. My experience lines up with what you said and that French people that I know are rather hard working but seeking balance in working to live a better quality of life. A value I hold also.
There are so many wonderful things that come from prioritizing people over profits. I was diagnosed with cancer in June of 2022 and spent 28 weeks in a brutal chemo regimen, then had surgery. One of the most stressful aspects of having cancer was the first 3 months spent figuring out if my health insurance would cover everything. I have a close friend who had to use her retirement account and then had to reverse-mortgage her home to pay for her part of the cost of cancer treatment (she worked a full-time job and a part-time job, but her insurance was not very good.)
I hope you and your friend are doing better.
I’m angry reading this. Every state should take care of its citizens, being able to take care of itself is a right!
I hope you’re better...
I was lucky, living in France at the time and treated for breast cancer. I paid zero out of my pocket. The treatment was intensive, with strict protocols and amazing. I cannot praise the French health system enogh
@@mariembalo3076 Yes ! And we should remember that the state you talk about is actually people organizing themselves together to make life better, easier and smartier. It's my definition of socialism and for me it's the best system as humans are fundamentally social beings, we are nothing alone, individualism is only a fantasm.
There is something missing in the talk about retirement age.
In France, there are many associations that rely on retirees to operate!
And this associations are absolutely necessary for the mannnnnny people (food aid, school aid, social aid, etc.)
In general, when you are retired, you don't stop working, you just don't need to work for a salary anymore so you can work for free in associations.
Hi, thanks you for your thoughtfull and balanced vidéo. Actuallly It helps better understanding my daughter in Law, who is américan when i am french. AT first sight, I found her behavior very puzzling to me.
To bring a contribution to thé présent subject, i think there is something central about french so called laziness. As a people, we acknowledge far less liberalism and even capitalism. WE estimate that humans are not bound to live under the laws of economic powers structured as hiérarchies. That Comes from our History which is very différent than thé américan one. In specific, WE suffered Wars on our soil and WE know what thé myth of thé strongest, the powerfull, thé most gifted, the superiors brings in terms of sufferings.
Well put. As a French I'd say we can do even better :)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) 20 January 2022 International comparisons of UK productivity - Main points
- The G7 countries’ average (excluding the UK) output per worker was 13% above the UK in 2019.
- The UK’s output per hour worked is less than France and the US.
- France is between 9% and 28% more productive than the UK, with a central estimate of 18% more productive.
important to note that even though the official work week is 35 hours, in practice many workplaces will ask you to work 39, as these 4 additional hours are paid as regular hours and not overtime, which means companies can squeeze more proverbial juice for less money. They don't hide it either, you can find the mention "39h" on proper job offers listed on official websites from very serious employers.
I'm french and this videos shows parts of my country which I'm proudest.
I didn't know that "going on strike" means "partir en grève" thanks for this video.
I just want to add that the sentence "France prioritizes people over profits" is less and less true, Macron is the most "IDGAF about french people" president we had since centuries and that's why we are protesting on streets and some of us are seriously injured by policemen. Some of us are in a coma, lost a hand, an eye, some black people are forced by policemen to burn trashes to be arrested. Things very serious is going on in France and we have been educated to question things and to stand up tall when democracy, for which so many died, is put in jeopardy. That's why many french institutions are being questioned theses days and France's intuitions will have to change no matter what happens for better or for worse
Great analysis and thank you for breaking the stereotypes, as a Frenchman it warms my heart. ♥
Thanks for not falling for the clichés ! What you said is correct, even though not that many people work 35h a week but most get paid overtime or get 1 extra day off each month to compensate. We value our lunch break, which always surprises strangers. Like just today my team went to the restaurant, enjoying a nice pizza and a glass of wine for almost 2 hours then went back to work. It was a team bonding moment, we talked about many things but work, and yes our boss came with us. We are not lasy, we do work hard, just not for as long as other countries, life’s too short to work longer than you have to, so yes we try to work smarter, cut corners and do what is expected of us in the shortest amount of time possible… but not to do more, just to work shorter hours 😅
35h it's the minimum for a full-time job, then don't forget that this type of schedule is mostly for "public" companies, in private it's quite different, we have the 2x8 / 3x8 / 5x8
(2x8: every other week the schedules change, that is to say, when someone works on their "morning" week, they start at 4 a.m., to finish at 2 p.m., the following week is the Conversely, the person starts at 2 p.m. and ends at 9-10 p.m., 3x8 is the same except that one week the person works at night, from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., so with this type of schedule it's more than 40-45 hours), my current job I exceed 35-70 hours per week, we are not lazy, we are efficient, but like you said, we work to live, slavery has been over for quite a while
Thanks for talking about this. I absolutely agree with you. My experience in France was that the French have a more ethical, a more moral & a more humane set of values than the US.I have sometimes wondered why this is the case. I can't help but wonder if the fact that much of the US depended on slaves for hard labor like working a plantation. If you bought your work force so that in fact you owned them & if you only provided the most minimal of necessities & care for that work force your general value system would require a life dedicated to labor with no consideration for the quality of the life lived. If you were fortunate enough not to be "owned" as a slave you still might might be an apprentice or an indentured worker whose hope was to eventually be free, but once free it would be natural to hope to become wealthy enough to improve the quality of life by acquiring your own slaves, apprentices or indentured laborers. Of course that goal would also require that you continue to prioritize work as the most important & most beneficial use of time. The US was never a country where everyone was a royal subject so that the means of "getting ahead" could depend on one's relationship to the King & his court. I could go on (& on & on & on) but I agree that this is a complex subject & I will end by saying that I have a deep affection & appreciation for French values.
Diane, I really want to thank you for telling the truth about the French and lazyness, because some members of my family who are Americans just believe everything that channels like Fox News say, and the lies they release are absolutely unbelievable ! For example, my nephew thought that there is no parliament in France and that the president can decide alone anything he wants like this law on retirement !
Well... Your nephew is right to be wrong. The President should be a representative of France, not someone legislating with wealthy people to destroy what makes France special 😢
There is actual parliament but 49.3 Then your nephew is not totally wrong 😂
@@victoriagossani8523 After this 49.3, the parliament had the possibility to counter this law and overthrow the government by voting a censor motion. They tried but missed having a majority by 9 votes.
@@photolover6944 It's true, and it's a worry to note that the parliament is no longer a real opposition.
False opposition, 49.3 × ....
Your nephew IS right.😢
Look like lazzy but aren't: i did work in a factory from a german international group established in France, and despite whe did work 35 hours per week, the productivity and quality from this factory , they workers and the industrialization office , was significant higher than all other factories from this group in the World who did work 40h per week or more...
I've lived & worked in both societies. These differences needed explaining. You've done so very, very well, Diane!
Bonjour, vidéo globalement assez bien faite, merci à vous de partager un peu la culture Française à travers le monde! :)
Ceci-dit, vous auriez pu expliquer que l'age de départ à la retraites n'est que la partie immergée de l'iceberg..
Et oui, il ne faut pas oublier le fait que le gouvernement (qui a moins de 26% de confiance.. tout de même.. .) a usés de tous les stratégies possible et inimaginables afin de limiter les capacités de vote des députés et des sénateurs!! On est en démocratie, ou pas? :p
D’abord l'article 47.1, qui limite ÉNORMÉMENT les capacité de discutions au parlement en réduisant les temps de paroles (surtout pour une loi aussi importante..) à 20 jours en tout et pour tout! Impensable!
Malgré ça, ils ont ensuite utilisés l'article 44.3 qui a bloqué les votes des sénateurs!! (donc, on limite très fortement les députés et ensuite on limite les votes des sénateurs ?!?
Et même après tout ça (qui n'étais franchement pas très jolie.. ) ils ont quand même été obligé d'utiliser l'article 49.3!! La, c'est carrément l'article de loi la plus dictatoriale de l'arsenal législatifs! Créé par et pour le général De Gaulle (qui lui était un vrai patriote, pas comme ce gouvernement de vendus..) en passant une loi "en force" sans qu'il n'y ai de vote nul part!! -> le feux au poudres!!
Donc, si on résume, le président le plus mal élu que la France ai connu, a utilisé les pire tromperies possible, le tout saupoudrés de mensonges tous plus aberrants les un que les autres, en insultant les Français à chaque occasions possible (il faut voir ces discours!!).. sans qu'a aucuns moment il n'ai de compte à rendre au travers de votes soit des français soit des députés ou même des sénateurs !!??!! on est où la ? En Chine ? dans une dictature africaine ?!?
Il est principalement là le fond du probléme!!
9 travailleurs sur 10 en France sont contre cette loi et contre la façon dont elle a été faite!
D'autant plus qu'il existait de nombreuse autres solutions de régler ce faux probléme des retraites... Même le COR (organisme d'état spécialisé pour les projection future dans le domaine du financement des retraites) a crier haut et fort que les chiffres donnés par le gouvernement était largement trompeurs, voir carrément mensongers, et que notre système de retraites est prévu à l’équilibre jusqu’à 2070!!
Macron a un très lourd passé de séditieux, il a vendu (et même pas au plus offrants!) de nombreux secteurs stratégique français qui étaient leader mondiaux dans leurs domaines, et beaucoup d'autres secteurs importants.. il a créer de très nombreux probléme sur les finances de la France, et maintenant c'est a nous de payer ces conneries ?!? tout en se faisant insulter par son gouvernement à chaque fois qu'il ouvrent la bouche??
Pour beaucoup d'entre nous, il est un traître à la nation.
Trop c'est trop. il est allé trop loin. Il a créer la plus grosse crise démocratique que la France ai connus depuis 1945..
Bref, voici un petit bout de l'histoire qui se passe en France actuellement ;)
J'ai une très longue liste de choses à reprocher a Macron, mais on sortirait du sujet de la réforme des retraites :p
Alors, je vais en rester là..
Merci encore pour vos vidéos :) Et bonne continuation!
PS: Je finirait par deux slogans utilisés dans la rue:
"nous aussi, on va passer en force!"
🎼"On est là, on est là! même si Macron ne le veut pas nous on est là! pour l'honneur des travailleurs et pour un monde meilleur, même si Macron ne le veut pas nous on est là!!" 🎶
Hello, video globally quite well done, thank you for sharing a little French culture around the world! :)
That said, you could have explained that the retirement age is only the submerged part of the iceberg.
And yes, we must not forget the fact that the government (which has less than 26% of confidence... all the same...) has used all possible and unimaginable strategies in order to limit the voting capacities of the deputies and senators! We are in democracy, or not? :p
First of all, the article 47.1, which limits the capacity of discussions in the parliament by reducing the speaking time (especially for such an important law...) to 20 days in all! Unthinkable!
In spite of that, they then used the article 44.3 which blocked the votes of the senators! (so, we limit very strongly the deputies and then we limit the votes of the senators?!?
And even after all that (which was frankly not very pretty...) they were still obliged to use the article 49.3! This is definitely the most dictatorial article of law in the legislative arsenal! Created by and for general De Gaulle (who was a true patriot, not like this government of sellouts...) by passing a law "by force" without any vote anywhere! -> the fire at the powder keg!
So, if we summarize, the most badly elected president that France has ever known, has used the worst possible deceptions, the whole sprinkled with lies all more aberrant than the others, by insulting the French at every possible occasion (you have to see these speeches!!)... without at any moment he has to give an account of himself through the votes of the French people or the deputies or even the senators!!?! where are we now? In China ? in an African dictatorship ?!?
It is mainly there the bottom of the problem!
9 workers out of 10 in France are against this law and against the way it was made!
Especially since there were many other solutions to solve this false problem of pensions ... Even the COR (state organization specialized in future projections in the field of pension financing) has cried out loud that the figures given by the government were largely misleading, see downright false, and that our pension system is expected to balance until 2070!
Macron has a very heavy past of sedition, he sold (and not even to the highest bidders!) many french strategic sectors that were world leaders in their fields, and many other important sectors... he created many problems on the finances of France, and now it's up to us to pay for this bullshit ?!? while being insulted by his government every time he opens his mouth?
For many of us, he is a traitor to the nation.
Enough is enough. He has gone too far. He has created the biggest democratic crisis that France has known since 1945.
In short, here is a little piece of the history that is happening in France now ;)
I have a very long list of things to criticize Macron for, but we'd go out of the subject of the pension reform :p
So, I'll leave it at that.
Thanks again for your videos :) And good luck!
PS: I would finish with two slogans used in the street:
"us too, we're going to go through by force!"
🎼"We are here, we are here! even if Macron does not want us we are here! for the honor of workers and for a better world, even if Macron does not want, us we are here!!!" 🎶
Tiens, un commentaire de pisse-vinaigre qui agite ses petits poings et c'est bien sûr un Français. Déçu que Mélenchon n'ait pas été élu hein ?
All right. I'm french. I'm afraid there's some precisions to add here. While some of the declarations of our wonderful host requires a bit of adjustment. First France and its population is not a homogeneous block. France, the French, french people, french government are not interchangable terms. While focusing on the 64 years you're reporting the government voice. The reform cannot be resumed by a two years gap to fill. As it is written, some people will be constrain to work way over 70, and women will be constrain to work longer than men. OR, and we get here the real intension of the government, your retirement pension will be divided by numbers. I guess our host missed the point. Picture this, we are back in 1945 and the allies won. That's the time of the sast social advancements in France: Health protection system and retirement financing system. Since it was voted, it was attacked endlessly by politics and economical lobbies, because companies have to pay for retirement savings, just like employees do. One of the untold is Salaries in France are very low because a part of it goes to the social system, so what is left as effective salary is low. You may understand that french people pays a huge tribute to get a decent retirement at an age which is reasonable to get the benefits of these huge savings. Currently the retirement financing system is positive, despite the 16% of effective unemployment in France. So you may understand people who already pays much more than other countries for their retirement: they won't accept to pay even more for their retirement while possibly die at work or few years only after retiring, as the medium age of death in France is 83 years old. It's like pay (a lot) your whole life to retire with the half or the third of a normal retirement, or get the full money while you've got less than two decades maximum to live. Add the unfair calculation for women and you get an inacceptable law, which have not been voted by the deputies, by the way. Last, while french people are the most taxed in the world, there's an endless policy for successive governments to raise taxes while reducing public services like social insurance, public hospital, education, energy, and mostly everything. People are fade up with critical taxation in exchange of mostly nothing left.
Long story short, our wonderful host missed the point which is a democratic crisis (the biggest since french revolution) with arbitrary decisions which are not voted by people's représentants, and endless dismantling of the French social system while keeping and even creating new taxes. That's the point.
As a French worker in Luxurious Hotel Catering in the South of France, we usually work 39h per week (5 days straight).
I dream to work 4 days a week (instead of 8 hours per day and 30min of break) with 9 hours per day with a day of break in between 2 days of work then a real week end break to improve my productivy and happiness. $
For example : working on Monday/ Tuesday / Thursday and Friday and do my housework and do some shopping on Wednesday to have a real free time during the week-end
Who knew that being well rested, healthy and having the knowledge that you will be able to rest when you're old were factors that made people work better ?
Also I think one more stat is important to note : the new retirement laws change also state that French people need to work 43 full years in order to get the "complete" pension whilst in other countries it is lower, for example in spain it is 38 years and a half.
I worked in Canada for a French company & was very disappointed that the vacation time for my French colleagues was not matched in Canada. They did however offer 1 more week than the typical 2 weeks vacation to start with a total of 4 weeks after 15 years of working in Canada! Proof companies only do what they have to, thus the need for government legislation.
Thank you for your video, you have a good vision of the subject and made a lot of good points.
I think you forget the main point : there are so many people not paid by the hours ! They largely compensate the ones working just 35 hours…
- managers and other ‘cadre’ situation, our work contract is labeled in days not hours. You have to get the job done whatever time it takes (ok we have compensation days, but often we have to skip them)
- nurses, policemen, firemen… they work endless days and nights, sometimes without compensation, just to avoid the collapse of the system
- all self employed people, from the taxi driver to the surgeon through builders
- people working real 35 hours that find a second job…
Great job. You nail differences between France and the US in a funny way and without being judgmental. A good way to shed some light on clichés or prejudices. I'm French but I have lived for several decades in many foreign countries including the US. Here are some of my thoughts from a reverse point of view.
1) The US and France are in fact very similar in many respects at least on the surface. What I mean, as a French living in the US I never felt like I was living on an alien planet: similar level of development, similar utilities, facilities, similar values. Then as you dig deeper some differences start appearing.
2) language: this of course is a major difference and you have to make the effort of learning some of the other country's language as both the US and France are not great at speaking foreign languages. Don't expect to manage on a daily basis speaking English in France and vice versa. While in the Netherlands or Denmark for example, one can easily interact in English in daily activities.
3) Laws and Politics: France is not a federal country contrary to the US. Bearing this in mind might help understanding some differences. Comparing France to a given State in the US might be more relevant. I personally find California and France quite similar. As regards the laws the basic principles are the same though the justice systems look somewhat different.
4) Religion: at the core of values and behaviors France has been influenced mostly by Catholicism when the US have been influenced mostly by Protestantism. This is very important to keep in mind as it explains a lot of differences.
5) Social organization and hierarchy: France has been more or less stable in its boundaries for centuries. All major invasions happened between 0 and 600 CE by the Romans then by Germanic tribes, which both are the roots of French civilization along with some remnants of even more ancient people (Celts mostly). Most families of various social levels have had roots in the same region for centuries. On the contrary Americans had to conquer a huge country during the 18th and 19th centuries. To me this explains a major difference: the French have less the pioneer/settler/entrepreneur mentality than the Americans and they favor instead a slow but steady improvement of their lives. They favor security over risk, which translates into aspiration for a strong providential State/government. In turns this translates into wide - and costly! - social protection. At the same time French are free-thinkers and they feel entitled to strongly and vehemently criticize the government actions when such actions are perceived as putting their well-being at risk. The relationship to money derives also partly from that: when in the US it is normal to get rich through enterprise and achievement and to display one's wealth, in France it is not well perceived and accepted. Making money in France raises suspicions of potential unlawful activities. The French abolished "privileges" (of the nobility and the church) during the French revolution and of course one privilege was the ability to exploit and make money at the detriment of hard-working commoners, so French consider as preferable to pay a lot of money to the State that they think they control rather than allowing a daring entrepreneur to get rich, whose sole intention is obviously to exploit them!
OK, enough! These are some personal views that you may or may not share. Disclaimer: things and mentalities are changing fast in France and many things I mentioned might not stay true for long.
Interesting comment you make about the comparison of how the French view money and making it vs. the US. I must point out however, that currently the richest man in the world today is French AND the richest woman in the world is also French. Both live in France. And France has one of the highest net wealth per person in the industrialized world -- higher than the UK and Germany. I think the biggest difference between the French and Americans regarding money is the French tend to keep their debt as low as possible while Americans continue to spend more than they earn and find themselves in a lot of credit card and load debt.
You right we are lazy in FRANCE ! We LOVE our vacation and early retirement ! We love life more than work . My parents retired at 55 and enjoyed life ! They are now 80, in good health and enjoying great grand children and travelling , gardening, long walks in the countryside … etc . I wish everyone can retire early and have enough means to live well .
*Weekly hours of work in 2021: USA: 38.8, France: 36.1, Switzerland: 36.1, Italy: 36, Ireland: 35.1, Finland: 35.3, Belgium: 35.3, Austria 35.2, Germany: 34.6, Norway: 34.1, Denmark: 33.7, Netherlands: 30.3*
*WHO is lazy??????* 🥱😎
The Dutch.
But their pension at. 67
@@fbabarbe430 Yes, and I prefer to work longuer every week when I'm 20, 30 or 40 than being a SLAVE until 70!!! When you are 30 and you don't to work too much, you are lazy. When you are 62 and you want to stop, it's because you NEED to rest and because you already gave enough your whole life!!!
@@fbabarbe430 You have to consider the EFFECTIVE retirement age. In Netherlands, it's 63.35 and 60.65 in France, so 4.45% higher.
French work 1490 hours a year VS 1417 hours for Dutch people, so 5.15% more.
Conclusion: Dutch don't really work more than French... 🤷🏼♂️
Obviously!
⏩⏩⏩ You spotted the real true statistic Diane that, even here in France, many politicians purposely forget to take into consideration: the productivity ! Because they are so obsessed with economic liberalism and the whole ideology behind it, they only reason in terms of "time spent working = performance = wealth". They completly ignore the simple facts, as you mentionned, that first, people in France don't want to live to work (and that we don't give a shit about being compared to countries where people are happy being workaholics) and second, that a better quality of life means people are in better shape (physically and psychologically) to perform (much) better at work ! Their obsession is just to work more to be more competitive and productive than our Europeans neighbours. But we already are more productive than them... But you can see the cynicism that comes with it : they hope we keep being that efficient with more time at work during life, not because the social system needs it, not because the French companies need to be more competitive but just because the stockholders want more and more and more !!
In France, we do things quickly and well, to enjoy life as soon as possible. As she said in the video, we work to live but we don't live to work!
En France, on fait les choses vite et bien, pour aller profiter de la vie le plus tôt possible. Comme elle l'a dit dans la vidéo, on travaille pour vivre mais on ne vit surtout pas pour travailler !
Great presentation. Thank you
Bonjour.
Merci pour cette brillante plaidoirie.
Cordialement
merci, très intéressant d'avoir ce pont de vue sur le travail en France
I am French and ALL my employment contracts were limited to 35 hours per week and could go up to 39 hours per week.
the law says 35 hours, companies work 39 hours.
Being in the trade my weeks were rather between 60 and 70 hours.
There is often a huge gap between theory and practice.
So so true!
oui, mes parents travaillaient 70 heures par semaine et maintenant mon mari. J'ai choisi d'être mère au foyer pour ne pas travailler autant mais je travaille plus de 90 heures par semaine en faisant tous les métiers (taxi, professeur, femme de ménage, jardinier, décoratrice d'intérieur, infirmière, psychologue, ...) !!!
My husband worked for a French company in the UK. He spent a lot of time in the US installing the projects he worked in. He said it never ceased to amaze him how unproductive the Americans he worked with were. The Brits and the French would work consistently through the day and achieved their set tasks by about 5.39 to 6pm and would pack up to go home. This was not liked by the Americans who would work until late to finish their tasks. He got to the bottom of it, the Americans were expected to work late, if the went home at 5.30 they were frowned upon and in trouble even if their allotted work was done. So, they made their work last until they could leave.
Wow, second video I discovered on your channel and I have to leave a message on this one to thank you :)
I didn't expect it at all but I was moved as a French person. Thank you for seeing how precious these rights can be
Basically we work more efficiently to finish work earlier…
Bonjour Diane. Merci d'essayer d'expliquer cette question complexe et actuelle à vos compatriotes qui s'y intéressent. Je me permet un complément pour ceux de vos spectateurs US qui auront le courage de me lire (surtout que c'est en grande partie une "Google translation") :
Our pension system (known as "pay-as-you-go") is based on the same principle as our social security; that is to say that all the people who work contribute to finance the pensions of retirees (one does not put part of one's income aside for one's future retirement, the principle "by capitalization"). In fact, as the French live longer, have fewer children and they are a little xenophobic (not all) and do not want to welcome foreign workers, there are fewer and fewer people working for more in addition to pensions to be paid. This is the simplistic equation of the advocates of reform.
But the real question is that France is not getting poorer even though there are fewer and fewer people working. The equation does not take into account the productivity gains linked to robotization or digitization: computers and robots each replace several workers, but they do not contribute to finance the pensions; productivity gains go directly into the pockets of shareholders! Capital income increases much faster than labor income, and that is what the French dispute.
More circumstantially, the anger against Macron's reform is that it is insincere. Macron indebted France during COVID by distributing billions of euros to companies to "cushion" the economic slowdown due to COVID and confinement. But the companies that received those billions are now making huge profits, but Macron refuses to ask them to help repay the public debt he created (he turned down a bill from MPs to tax "superprofits") , because we must not forget that he was originally an investment banker and that was his background. So as the European Union imposes to reduce the debt, he attacks the workers by asking them to work longer. It is a real logic of class struggle.
What's funny is that, when it come to school, it's the opposite.
Kids are all day in school for 4 days and a half, from 8H to around 17H, and when they go home, they have homeworks to do.
In the very-demanding-in-work art High school I went to, a teacher joked by saying "don't sleep at night, work."
Yeah I celebrate my diploma by having a burnout.
During a year in France, we took our dog to a French vet for an exam to get an EU Pet Passport. We told the vet that our fairly young dog preferred to stay around the apartment rather than go on long walks, and that we regarded him as a little lazy. Without missing a beat, the vet replied, "But it's his right to be lazy."
Diane, it was brave of you to tackle this subject head-on. But you managed to treat it in your usual fair-minded, objective way.
I remember that story!!
You are right, but in my book, you miss THE point: our gross salary is punctured by 23% , a sum which is distributed to different funds, like retirement, health care. Then each month WE pay like an insurance for our health care and retirement. More, our salary are calculated less for the employer save the money for our holidays. It's means, we are paid less each month than most of the rich countries because a part of our salary is saved for paid all the insurances that other workers of the richest country paid themselves but with bigger salary. In certain case, like home help (I was), it's your duty to save the money of yours holidays, then when you discuss your salary with a futur employer you have to keep in mind to add this sum on your monthly pay. The other workers who don't have to do it, forget that them salary are also calculated to included the pay of the holiday.
Then, it's look like magic money and a magic country where every thing is free but it's actually just a different way to fund those services and holiday. And the minimum salary in France is very low: 1200€! After all those fund paid.
In Switzerland, minimal salary is 2700€. But Swiss workers have to paid themselves them insurance and it's 360€ minimum (for one people, where in France you have your spouse and children included). And for Swiss they have to paid half of the retirement pension, the employer the other half. But in the end they have way more money than us, with the same services.
Next, about the 35 hours of work it's true for a lot of jobs but not all. For exemple: restauration job it's 40, same for home help.
And your employer can legally ask you to work more than 35h for some reason like a big order to honoured. It could be 48h in a week. It's not often, but it's legal.
To finishing, why French are angry with this story of retirement age? It's because WE paid our insurance for retirement at 62, and now they steal from us 2 years more of work and 2 years of money. It was not the contract.
In fact this is not the reality. France system of retirement is not an insurance. Active people pays for retired people. So all the sums you paid are immediately spent. If tomorrow there is no more active to pay, you won’t have money for your old days.
Bonjour.
Merci Monsieur.
Cordialement
In french workshops, we often Say that ''a good worker is a lazy one''.
That means that people who work efficiently don t work hard, but smart.
👍.
I have worked with French people for 2 years in this village. Everyone was fine, but one woman I worked with was a real fire cracker. In other words she was a hard worker and tough. She was also younger than 30. Lol, I liked working with her.
I am French and I manage around 20 people.
I want them to work, not just to be here.
And I want them to work to the best of their ability, not just pretend.
And I want them to try to solve my problems, not just achieve what I told them.
So *my* job is to make *their* job interesting. This is what I strive to do by
- making their job meaningful, by explaining how it is useful to the society at large, or to someone in particular. That's easy unless you work in finance.
- making them as autonomous as possible in their tasks by 1) explaining clearly what they have to do and 2) providing them with the necessary means
- helping them progress in their job, and that's the easiest part: I just ask them to tell me what problems they identify, then how they are going to tackle it, and when it's done how it went
It is a lot of work at the start - I have just worked 50h work weeks since I was hired 8 weeks ago.
But today I had nothing to do ... everybody knew their jobs and went about it, and that felt like victory.
I tell this because I think part of this managerial strategy is due to the need of very high productivity - coupled with limited means of coercion.
J’ai travaillé pour Airbus entre 84 et 2022 et j’étais « au forfait » comme beaucoup de cadres ( ingénieur) ; j’ai toujours dépassé les horaires et c’était ce que faisaient les personnels autour de moi : les 35 heures, c’est pour les smicards.
Yes I am ! And proud of it !
Native French here. Most companies offer 7 weeks of paid holidays, with a 39 hour work week. Meaning the 4 hours are transformed into 2 more weeks of extra paid holidays
I really admire your ability to take on such a controversial topic and treat it calmly with balance and look it all from sides.
Just to be clear the vacations & healthcare are not "free gifts", we actually pay for them with a portion of our salaries/wages whatever you call it…
💯. I'm glad you mentioned the systems in place. Yeah most people would relax knowing they won't get fired. Or shot at in astrike.
Quand j'ai immigré au Québec, en temps que Français, j'ai pu travailler dans des entreprises sous tensions par manque de personnel
Je me disais tout le temps "Mon dieu que je suis lent" (etc...)
Puis un jour, j'ai les supérieurs qui sont venu me voir pour me féliciter car je travailler très bien
C'est la ou j'ai compris qu'on avait pas du tout la même intensité de travail car mon dieu, en France on fait peut être 35h mais parfois j'aimerais tellement qu'on fasse plus pour pouvoir travailler plus tranquillement hahaha
Very well explained !! I already knew most of this about the French worker, they have a higher productivity per hour than the US and I believe Germany as well. Work to Live is an excellent philosophy !! Tres bien!
Bon Jour Dianne. Thank you for the research you put into this video. I find that working with French people just means that I have to listen carefully and negotiate delivery dates/times. As with everyone if you are polite you are more likely to get what you need.
I think you are idealizing the french system.
You say that french people work 35 hours a day. Actually when you reach the « cadre » (manager level) nobody works 35 hours a week. A regular manager week is 50 to 55 hours a week.
In addition there is a lot of bad sides of this so called « high productivity » system. People work on sunday, checking mails and preparing presentations.
This is why french people wants to protect their retirement age. Since 2000 we are supposed to work 35 hours a week but nobody does this. The only thing that was still strong and reliable was thé retirement age in our system.
In addition we have massive taxes in our salary. For exemple when you earn 3200€ net the employer pays around 5500€ Gross. Part of it is collected for retirement. We accept to have massive taxes if we can leave early in retirement have a good unempoyment insurance. However if they move thé retirement, what’s the point to have such massives taxes ? What is the « efficiency » of these taxes ? This is why french people complains and claims that the whole system is corrupted.
You don't need to be a cadre to work more than 35 hours! Every non cadre (below) I know work more and some works like 55 hours a week with minimum wage, that's not a "cadre" thing, it's totally common.
I completely agree with your comment. It is a myth to believe that French people only work 35 hours per week. As mentioned above, "cadres" (managers) usually work waaaay more. Also, some employees have 39hours per week work contracts. It is utopic to believe that farmers, teachers, artisans and self-employed workers only work 35hrs/week!
Also, high productivity only means that the general rythm is insane and if you don't work fast enough, better take that "lazy" time off from you lunch break to get that sweet work done.
True, I was about to comment about the 35 hours week thingy. If I worked regularly for only 7 hours a day in my job, I would get a warning from my manager in no time.
Now to be fair, the system is flexible, and where I work, if I had to leave early for any reason, I just say so sufficiently ahead of time and that's it. There is trust that you are leaving for valid reasons and they respect that.
@@adelefeix5881 No, it's not a myth. A lot of people work 35 hours a week, and the rythm is not crazy. In some jobs, like in factories, you still clock in and out. When you're a "cadre", you're supposed to work more, but you are compensated, you have RTT ( additionnal vacation days), more pay etc...
But this concerns only salary people. When you're your own boss, as an entrepreneur, a physician in their own practice etc... you can work as long as you want.
These laws about the work time are there to protect employees.
@@SuperLn1991 A "non cadre" working 55h a week when you're supposed to work 35h?? In minimum wages? In France?😂😂 Nice try! You need proof and names when you say things like that!
First it's illegal, second anybody in their right mind who works there would have reported it to "Inspection du Travail", or would have dragged them to the prud'homme to get a fat amount of money as a compensation.
When a company doesn't follow the rules, there are a lot of way to make them pay.
I think the people may choose how to live
It’s not for other nations to judge that.
But what is unacceptable is the government way to decide what the nation needs
As a Finn I'm not yet got used to when My campus is closed due to the protest because that thing is extremely rare in Finland in the/at the university culture.😄 Greetings from a Finn who is at the moment in a university exchange in Lyon !😊
In france, governement nearly always step back when students start to strike too. ( and this governement is known for mistreating badly our students. ( First time in history that students have to go to charity to eat :/ )
@@ouranos9290 I’d be interested in learning when French governments backed off due to students entering a “strike”, as well as real examples of mistreatments to students by the current administration. Could you help?
@@tixien I would say that you could search for the event that happened during May 1968 that we call in France "Mai 68" were the students in University were largely involved
@@thomas.m2250 Sure. We could also refer to students’ protests against the Loi Devaquet (although it was a very student-focused matter). But two examples over a 60 years period - with public protests at least once a year - don’t really substantiate the statement « in France government nearly always steps back when students start to strike too », don’t you think?
As french : thanks a lot !
Little correction : we work 1608h /year, not 1491 as you said ;)
In France you have to work 43 years in order to get full pension retirement.The highest in Europe, in Germany it's 40, in Spain it's 37
Please give full facts when you give information
I'm french and for me, work is not a goal. It's not a moral value itself. It's just a way to have money, to pay my bills. And it's not just me who think like that. My family, my friends, my coworkers....we have only one life on earth so we think we could enjoy it and time is precious (sorry for my english, it's not very good)
Yes, very important point, thank you. A lot of people have their career wrapped up in their identity where as others think of their job as a job and that's it. I don't have any stats but I'd guess that fewer people in France associate their work with part of their identity.
Yes. But there is one exception : when you love to do something et it becomes your work.
I'm interested to know : would you stop to work if there was a universal income ? What would you do instead and do you think it would be less productive for society ?
@@creuvette29 no. I like to work and work is essential for society, especially in France. There is a lot of taxes and social contributions on my income. But it's ok for me because the money is usefull to finance (??? I'm not sure of this expression) public services and social security for all. I think work is also important for ourselves. Sometimes your work could be a passion. But if it's not, like i said before, it's just a way to pay your bills and other things. I'm sorry, i don't speak english very well so it's difficult for me to explain what i want to say about work. My work is not a passion. So what i do after work is more important for me. I enjoy moments with my family and friends. Life is too short
Hello. Whether your job is your passion, a way to pay your bills or something in between, you may get a personal satisfaction of contributing to society through your work, which you wouldn’t get with a universal income.
I think, this is my personal opinion, that when you touch the pension system you also have to address the work system, its faults and limitations, which was not really done. For example we didn’t see such an improvement in the recruitment of senior people, so for a senior person waiting up to 64 instead of 62 to get a pension can be seen as two more years of struggling. I’d say it was quite easy to predict in that context that protests would happen.
I think the best to understand why productivity is higher is because when we (french) are at work, we do work. one of my friend went to Australia and his boss over there had to slow him down because he was working too fast.
To understand this you must bear in mind there is a social contract between the frenchs and the state.
1/ the right to get a job
2/ the right to get on strike
That is the main reason why we are getting so emotional about this retirement age pushed from 62 to 64... We all feel this have a taste of a contractual breach even to some kind of treason. The main feeling is it is quite unfair for the more vulnerables of us and unjust for the women too.
Myself I need to push until 65 to get a full pension and I feel OK with it since it is my choice and I'm still in good physical and mental condition - how about someone who is physically worned out and mentally debilitated at the age of 55 since he or she had a hard dirty even bullshit job since 18 years old ? Before they could have retired at this age... Now they are just poor left overs waiting to get some poor pension with very little hope to get a job until 64...
Eventually we feel that our gvt attitude has more to do with the "Washington concensus" ideology than to some real pragmatic policies...
Thank you for understanding that is not a privilege but a right we fought for and we worked for with high productivity.
French people are not lazy. When they are at work, they work hard and take their job seriously.
What we like is a good work/ life balance. Life outside of work is important to us.
French citizens have to achieve 43 years of service to get full retirement pension, which is more than in some other countries that get later age of retirement, but of course medias don't care about pertinent details that contradict their tawdry rhetorics.
Hi Diane,
One thing you could have mentioned is that Emmanuel Macron is an énarque (a graduate of l'École nationale d'administration), whose graduating exam is one of the toughest and most fearsome in the world. You're certainly not lazy if you've managed to survive that one.
There is also the fact that raising retirement age raised also the minimum work years to get a full retirement from 42 to 44, where 42 was already much higher than any country in europe
I had to retire before I was 64. I have numerous back problems. I’m about to have my fourth back surgery. Working was extremely painful.
I just listened to an economist explain how Norway has a higher rate of productivity than Americans and even the French.
America was the first country to have a forty-hour work week but employers found it was cheaper to have fewer workers working longer hours. Partly because employers paid for their employees healthcare made it cheaper for them to have fewer workers working longer hours.
As a French I agree with all you said, but I would also add that far from everyone only works 35h/week and not everyone is eligible (or can afford) to retire at 65. 😉
I would doubt that the average working week is actually 35h.
each company can decide, in the "convention collective" (simplifying greatly here), also all the owners of small buisnesses/shops, bakeries ect surely work more. so do farmers and alot more.
sure 35h week exists. it is most common for state workers. but I wond't be so sure its the actual average.
and to add a little but on this, when the 35h week law was voted, it came with alot of financial perks being cancelled too (bonuses ect..)