LIS Senior Scholar Louis Chauvel in the New York Times on inequality between generations in France
Professor Louis Chauvel spoke with the New York Times about intergenerational economic gaps in France, a topic he has been exploring these last years on a global scale (see his latest LIS Working Paper).
Unemployment in France has been rising since 2008 and has hovered around 10 percent for the last two years. “We have more and more educated young French citizens, and they face economic scarcity, even though they have more education than their parents,” he said. “Young adults in France see their taxes going to finance social benefits for retirees that they believe they will never receive.”
Chauvel and Schröder, co-author of the LIS Working paper n° 628, were also quoted several times in the French media, where the song, “Toute La Vie” (“All Life Long”), initially written to raise money for Les Restaurants du Coeur, set off a storming debate.
“It does not seem unreasonable to assume that the “young” (in 2014, this comprises everyone below age 64) will not accept the stagnation of their disposable incomes indefinitely.” (p. 14, sic.)