HOW THE FRENCH CAN AFFORD LA VIE EN ROSE
France's life of leisure includes a 35-hour work week and seven weeks of holiday, but it also means lots of hard work the rest of the year.
by Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoit Nadeau
Ottawa Citizen
June 03, 2003
The leaders of the G8 countries arrived in France for their annual meeting in the middle of yet another four-day weekend — France's third long weekend in May. While presidents and prime ministers were discussing global geopolitics, the French were celebrating, over a glass of Bordeaux and a plate of duck confit, the Ascension of Jesus.
Not that the French have ever shied away from leisure: In 2000, they introduced the 35-hour week and stretched the period of mandatory holidays to seven weeks from five. When Canadians see how much time the French spend on holidays, they can't help but wonder, how do the French get any work done? And how does their economy survive?
We lived in Paris from 1999 to 2001, studying the French for an American institute. During that time, many of our assumptions about the French were turned upside down, including our prejudices about them taking too many holidays.
The main reason the French "manage" to afford their holidays is that they work hard the rest of the year. They have also found ways of making holidays economically productive.
Contrary to what many North Americans might assume, France is actually one of the most productive among OECD countries, according to wealth produced per hour worked. Labour is expensive in France, so industries are extremely mechanized. The French would be even richer if they limited their paid holidays to two weeks, but they look at the problem differently. If fewer people are necessary to produce the same wealth, they reason, then why not translate that wealth into more holidays?
Although the French project the image of being a hedonistic lot, they work very hard, long days — when they work. Contrary to popular opinion, French workdays don't start later than those in North America, but they do end later. Rush hour in the Paris Metro lasts until 8 p.m.
The French also have a very strong but distinct work ethic. They pretend they're not busy even when they're working like crazy. To the French, looking relaxed shows you're in control. Hence, the long leisurely lunches at cafés. But make no mistake. They're working hard. They just don't have a stigma about taking their time and looking relaxed in public.
As to the costs of holidays, the French will argue that their economy has faced far bigger challenges than generous holidays for workers. The way the French look at it, their economy absorbed women entering the workforce, the introduction of weekends and statutory holidays — things regarded as impossible dreams a century ago — so it can certainly survive the 35-hour work week.
urthermore, a lot of the wealth produced in France during the last 600 years was spent on war. But Europe has been at peace since 1945, and the fantastic wealth that was once devoted to destruction and reconstruction is now spent on a more productive endeavour: leisure.
And who understands better than the French how productive holidays can be? A leisure society is good business for the French, who welcome 75 million foreigners a year (not including passengers transiting French airports to other destinations).
This makes France the most visited country in the world, both in absolute and relative terms. By comparison, a mere 45 million people visit the United States each year.
The French organize their holiday schedule nationwide to make the most of their resources at the lowest cost. They take their two main holiday weeks, the ski break and the Easter holiday, in rotation, with different school breaks assigned to different regions. So business gets spread out, hotel rooms are filled with a steady flow of tourists all year, and the French maximize the use of their infrastructure instead of building more.
Employers play a key role in making sure the French get enough holidays. Many companies are encouraged to give their employees chèques-vacances (holiday vouchers) worth up to $700 per year. These coupons are valid in 130,000 French travel agencies, hotels, restaurants, resorts and more. Employees have two years to spend the money. Other companies simply build resorts for their employees. Two thousand French companies make 240,000 beds available for their employees in 8,000 resorts. The result? The money stays in France.
Another bonus of this holiday-making is that it has helped preserve rural France. Although 98 per cent of the French now live in cities, they vacation in the countryside, and this injection of capital has helped preserve many ancient ways of life in barely productive rural areas of the county. Keeping the countryside alive is one of the main reasons French regional cuisine continues to flourish.
And as even a French tourist will tell you, food is one of the best reasons to take your holidays in France.
Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow are Montreal-based journalists and the co-authors of Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong, to be published soon by Sourcebooks, Chicago.
