French protests: Why is one of the rich world’s biggest spenders on public services burning?
The biggest beneficiaries, as usual in the West, are pensioners. Spending on them has jumped by 6.5 [percentage] points, with successive governments prioritizing a generous retirement over the future of young people entering education and the workforce. Almost a third of France’s education budget goes on pensions, for example, which may explain why teachers’ wages are below the OECD average.
