I need information on the cause of unemployment level in france, any help would be appreciated!?

Question

I'm doing a report on it and there's no info out there on the net!

Answer 1

Opinions may differ as to what the primary causes of unemployment are in France.

Jeremy makes excellent points although my personal opinion is that the principle difficulties are the high degree of regulation generally (of which employment regulations are certainly a major part) and a ruinously high burden of taxation (top personal income tax rates are at 60%).

Social factors are also important although I would suggest the main difficulty is that France simply does not nor has it ever had the same sort of commerical work ethic that one finds in Anglo-Germanic states. Anyone who has been in business meetings in France (or dealt with French diplomats) will notice this. Its subtle but there always seems more of a desire to debate than to decide, a seach for nuance which transcends practicallity, and a tendency to splinter into cloques that can hamper teamwork.

Answer 2

In France, everyone agrees we have a high level of unemployment, but explanation differs depending your political convictions. Some people will say it's because of the 35h week or taxes that companies have to pay, some will say it's nothing to do with all of this. Just have a look at the different solutions that the different candidates to the presidential election offered, and you'll realise how different they are.

Answer 3

There are many factors for the high level of unemplyment in France. One of the largest causes is the government policies that pay people not to work. Like Germany (which is rolling a lot of its policies back) there are generous wages and perks such as subsidised housing given to people who have been laid off or who cannot find work. It therefore becomes a cycle where someone who is laid off has no incentive to go back to work because they are getting good pay to not work.

Another reason is the unions--as much as the workers' unions may be powerful here in the US, their power in Europe particulary France is unmatched. They have a 35 hour work week and it is virtually impossible to fire someone. Things like that keep the unemloyment level artificially high.

Lastly there are a few social factors as well particularly immigration. It is well known that France has put up projects on the outskirts of Paris to keep the residents far from the wealthier areas. Many of these projects now house many African and Middle Eastern immigrants who face many problems seeking work as well.

This is really just a small overview of why, I would suggest searching through newspaper articles especially the Wall Street Journal or The Financial Times (FT is more International focused). I think the WSJ did a several part series that covered some of what I said. The Economist is a good source as well. Finally I would go to the Business and Economics section of your library or if that is small then the closest large University Library. Hope that helps.