French youth unemployment

[Sprogster]

Although my children are grown up I follow with interest the posts of those contemplating moving to France with children.

I can quite understand the motivation of parents who want a better life for their children and the perceived attraction of a more structured and discplined secondary education system in France.

However, what seems to be overlooked is the troubled French higher education system which has been under invested in for years and the very poor youth employment prospects in France, with youth unemployment at an a national average of 23% and much higher in rural areas, thanks in the main to unduly restrictive employment laws

From my experience, it is not unusual for young French people to continue to remain in the education system through their twenties because of the lack of job opportunities and hence the large numbers of young French people working in London.

Maybe it is human nature not to look too far ahead?

 

[gustavito]

Hi Sprogster,

I quite agree with your report and I would even go that far to say : ...it`s the french mentality not to look that far ahead.  [:)]

Kind regards Gustavo

P.S.  sorry for possible orthgraphic mistakes, since english is not my lanuage.

[Clair]

There is a disctinct lack of balance between what industries need and what universities provide.

French mentality places great value on diplomes at the expense of practical experience, so youngsters stay in the education system and reach the age of 25 without hardly had the chance to put any of their studies into practice and find out, to their dismay, that their diplomas or degrees do not open doors to a fulfilling job.

My niece started a "Arts Plastiques" university course in Sept. You can see some of their "homework" blog here.

I would sincerely like to know what kind of doors this course opens.

Employment law restrictions, mentioned above, play a huge part in the high unemployment rate. It is much much cheaper for firms to recruit part-timers from Manpower and the likes than to offer these people jobs. When work gets slack, they remain the responsibility of their employment agency and can be dismissed without any come-back.

Such a disheartening and negative situation... [:'(]

[Val_2]

My daughter gained her degree with a mention this year and is now working full time in the UK after hundreds of CV's and letters sent out with hardly any responses here and she speaks three languages. She is also earning a lot more money than her peers too.

[Wendy]

Maybe it is time for France to reconsider it's workplace practices. Namely, keeping shops and supermarkets open from 8.30am until 9/10pm seven days a week, and yes, including their 'sacred' Sunday. And in doing this utilise the under-21's and college/lycee students to work the after-hours and weekend shifts. As is done in other countries. No wonder there is so much youth unemployment when businesses here can only operate for a certain amount of time per week. The sooner they scrap this ridiculous 35 hour week thing the better and it wouldn't kill them to work on a Sunday. Many of us do!.

 

 

[Tourangelle]

Jura you need to come out of the mountains! Most supermarkets round here open those hours already 6/7days and also open Sunday morning.  For the other shops, they are open as many hours here as in the UK for example, the longer opening hours easily make up for the five or six hours on a Sunday.  If you chose to bury yourself somewhere where you have those annoyingly long lunch hours and nothing open on a Monday it doesn't follow that the rest of France, who mostly live in cities suffer the same inconvenience.

[Wendy]

However your situation is not the norm here; so why should it not be the same here as in your region?. France needs to unite as a country and adopt the same policies. It is particularly annoying to know how many youth are unemployed in our own area yet the local supermarket is staffed by over-50's and in my four years here have never sighted a new and young face in the place?. 

I still cannot see why the French cannot work on a Sunday. All day Sunday at that. And right across the board. Let the young 'uns do the work so that they are not sitting around the villages doing nothing...and doing 'nothing' in groups.

[Scooby]

Our French house is about 20 minutes from a large town / small city which has two very large retail parks.  All of the hypermarkets on these retail parks (in fact pretty much all of the shops on the retail parks - including Mr Bricolage) are closed on Sunday.  In contrast our small  intermarche in the village opens Sunday morning.  Although the hypermarkets on the retail parks (L'eclerc, Carrefour, Auchan etc) are open lunch times, many of the other large stores (including Mr Bricolage etc etc) are closed from 12 to 2.  I can't think of any shop near us, hypermarket or otherwise, opens after 8.00 pm and I think the concept of 24 hour opening would be completely alien!

[Wendy]

Please Scooby, I am trying for all day Sunday opening right now...to mention 24 hour opening 7 days a week would be too much to handle for the French. Imagine... all those young people they would have to employ to relieve those exhausted from their 35 hours a week![;-)].

And with all those young people working, who else would sit around the villages in bored groups on Sunday afternoons...besides the men?[:)]

 

 

 

[Scooby]

[:)][:)]

[Wendy]

[:D][:D]...If it wasn't all so ridiculous...

[Kitty]

I think that the chain of supermarkets called '8 a Huit' are a joke.  The one next to my brother's house in Brittany opens at 9, closes for lunch for about 4 hours and then closes just as you are trying to get in.  Oh and of course, Sundays - closed all day.

8 a Huit - don't think so.

 

 

[Val_2]

Everyone seems to have forgotten that opening 7/24 or near enough would result in horrendous huge social charges for the shop owners and is just not viable,hence what has happened with the 35hour week whereby so many more jobs were supposed to have been created but were not because the social charges already cripple the bosses so there is no extra left to take on more staff.  I personally hope that France never opens on a Sunday or late night,it would ruin what is left of quality family time and we have seen the consequences of that in the UK.

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="Val_2"]Everyone seems to have forgotten that opening 7/24 or near enough would result in horrendous huge social charges for the shop owners and is just not viable,hence what has happened with the 35hour week whereby so many more jobs were supposed to have been created but were not because the social charges already cripple the bosses so there is no extra left to take on more staff.  I personally hope that France never opens on a Sunday or late night,it would ruin what is left of quality family time and we have seen the consequences of that in the UK.[/quote]

Well, that is rather the key isn't it? France is hardly flush with people frustrated at being unable to spend more of their money and unable to do so because the shops don't open long enough.

The UK experience, which I know the French have examined as part of the process of liberalising their own regimes, suggests that longer opening hours mostly have the effects of shutting down town centre shops, putting ever more trade into the hands of a few large retailers and increasing traffic (and pollution) as people drive to the edge of towns and cities to do their shopping rather then nipping round the corner for a pint of milk.

Worse for the consummer is that once the big boys and their deep pockets have beaten every one else out of the marketplace - because they are the only ones who can carry the increased labour costs without the increased revenue to cover them - they jack up prices to recover their outlays. Food price inflation is around, what, 12% or so in the UK and the supers are reporting ever better profits. Then they cut employment because their shear size allows them tremendous efficiency.

Of course, once the genie is out of the bottle it is a real b****r trying to get it back in. The govt in the UK make occasional bleating noises about competition in the retail sector but can't really do much about the situation - they are comprehensively snookered.

Which is why the French (the Europeans in general, in fact) are so happy to let other nations try things first, see what happens, and follow it it looks sensible. I have a feeling that a French economist recently published a tome about the great benefits of being second.

I don't think we can really expect the retail sector to be the solution to France's employment woes somehow.

[Wendy]

One thing that strikes me about France is the 'boredom' factor that you see in the villages and towns here. Groups of teenagers sitting around on the weekends doing nothing. No work because all the shops are closed. And the men: middle aged to elderly men all sitting in groups from dawn to dusk with nothing at all to do except watch the buses go by and smoke.

I see the same old fellows sitting on the bus bench at 7am. They are still there at midday. Venture into the village near 6pm and there they all still are, just sitting.

At the weekends the teens add to the numbers 'just sitting'.

Pathetic. 

[cooperlola]

Reminds me of the small rural town in Kent which I lived nearby in the UK, really...  The fact that the shop around whose doorway the local bored teenagers congregrated was open made no difference at all that I noticed (except in so far as they could top up with cheap booze if they had the money.)

[Clair]

Same in Yapton, a lovely village near Chichester, except in the evenings, when a group of local youngsters who would delight making life as unpleasant as they could for the residents.

They were probably desperate fro jobs too... [Www]

[Wendy]

Yes, but it's the older men who have the 'sitting' thing down to a fine art here. What a waste of life.

[Clair]

In your opinion...

[Cendrillon]

I see the same old fellows sitting on the bus bench at 7am. They are still there at midday. Venture into the village near 6pm and there they all still are, just sitting.

 

Jura

they are probably only allowed home when it's dinner time[:)]

[Geordie girl]

Where are all these groups of men and young boys sitting around in groups doing nothing? I`ve never seen any .

Maybe i should take my rose coloured spectacles off but frankly i like them on its  much nicer  [:D]

[Scooby]

My (french) neighbour is constantly asking when we are coming over next.  She tells me (frequently!) that she is bored stupid, that the village is dead.  It's not just an issue of men in rural villages hanging around in the bars.  Very few of the women in the village where we are have jobs - the youngsters can't  get work never mind the older folks!  The men (well near to us anyway) spend their time hunting, fishing or following other male pursuits leaving their wives to look after the in-laws (and out-laws) and the children (though they are away in school for long hours).  You cant even walk into a bar as a lone woman where we live its frowned upon (as I discovered!).  (I'm pretty thick skinned though and will order and drink my beer regardless! [;-)].)

Life for a woman in rural France is pretty awful - unless you are the kind who has a very high boredom  threshold and delights in looking after everyone else - happy with no life of their own.

[Geordie girl]

 

 

Bit of a one sided opinion scooby

I don`t have an awful life in rural france, i`m not bored neither and i do have a life of my own.

[Scooby]

Just speak as I find GG.  Your village may be different - I can only speak for my own.

Edit:  You are busy now doing up your house so I can appreciate you're not bored - but what will you do when the renovations are complete?  Sorry if you feel  my comments are negative but I feel its important to present 'the other side of the coin' - everything is not rosy and wonderful in France - there are downsides and for a relatively young and active professional person, boredom living in a rural village  is defintely one of them.

 

[Geordie girl]

I`ll be running my b&b and my OH will be working as a carpenter, we are under no illusion to think we could live off  the b&b alone.