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A Paradoxical French Electorate
The three leading contenders make their final appearances on the campaign trail, as François Bayrou, left, greets supporters during a political meeting in Rouen, west of Paris; Ségolène Royal waves to a crowd in the capital; and Nicolas Sarkozy rides a horse during a visit to a ranch in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, southeastern France.
(By Michael Sawyer -- Associated Press)
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The candidates propose different ways of stimulating job growth. Sarkozy, who is considered the biggest free-market champion in the field, would exempt overtime pay from taxes and social security charges, and he recommends a basket of tax cuts, although he is an avowed protectionist.
Bayrou proposes allowing companies to hire two new, tax-exempt employees. Royal wants the government to help create 500,000 new jobs for youths by guaranteeing them a year's minimum wage, and she proposes raising the minimum wage from $1,625 to $1,950 a month.
None of the candidates has said how their proposals would be funded. But many voters, too, refuse to accept that increasing economic growth and employment in France requires giving up job security and costly benefits. Voters "want the myth of a job that's secure for life with full, massive protections, and by some miracle the creation of new jobs," said Nicole Bacharan, a political analyst at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris.
Loic Lephuez, 22, a political science student at the Sorbonne university in Paris, said he believes France needs "deep change" to increase the number of jobs, but he does not want "radical change" that would undermine the welfare system.
He does not want higher taxes, he can accept lengthening the 35-hour workweek, and he wants a reasonable compromise between retrogressive nationalism and unfettered globalization. Asked where the government should cut back, his only suggestion was military expenditures. Government should be more efficient, he said.
"I don't think it is predetermined that if you want to create more jobs, there needs to be less of a social security net -- they're not related," said Lephuez, who said he supports Royal. "I admit it will be hard to reform France, but if the changes go toward social improvement, people will accept that."
"People in my generation -- the 18- to 25-year-olds -- are more committed to changing things. We want to do something, not just be scared," he said. "If you don't have hopes at 22, there's no point in keeping going."
Researcher Corinne Gavard contributed to this report.
