Young people in France continued their nationwide protests over the weekend, demanding better education facilities and a promising future amid the rising cost of living in the country.
asserted
people → continue → country
France’s Ministry of Interior said 410,000 people protested nationwide on Saturday, including 110,000 in Paris, as the government has struggled to address the issues raised by the student-led protests.
asserted
government → say → protests
Recommended Stories
list of 3 items- list 1 of 3Can protests in Europe bring about change?
- list 2 of 3Marine Le Pen vows French ‘renaissance’ as far right eyes seat of power
- list 3 of
asserted
right → bring → power
French government is hiding behind a ‘riots’ narrative
asserted
government → hide → narrative
France was also roiled by nearly two years of protests beginning in 2018 over the high cost of living and opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron’s economic policies.
asserted
France → roil → policies
Those protests, which were led by the Yellow Vests movement, demanded that the government address the rising economic inequality, boost welfare and public services, and tax the rich.
asserted
government → lead → rich
As the young protesters take to the streets, many of the old demands remain unfulfilled.
asserted
many → take → demands
So, why have French politicians been unable to address the issues facing the country?
asserted
politicians → address → country
Here’s what we know:
asserted
we → ’ → what
Why are young people in France protesting now?
asserted
people → protest → France
The youth-led protests in France erupted last month amid deteriorating conditions in schools, broader economic anxieties and opposition to government budget cuts.
asserted
protests → lead → cuts
The protests began in mid-September after high school students blockaded campuses over overcrowded classrooms (often 32–35 pupils per room), unreplaced teacher absences, and dilapidated building infrastructure.
asserted
students → begin → room
Protesters have waved placards reading statements like “We have a future to build, not to endure”, as they expressed frustration with shrinking public resources and state investment.
asserted
they → wave → resources
Teachers have also joined the students protesting over low salaries.
asserted
Teachers → join → salaries
French teachers are paid less on average than their counterparts in other European countries like Germany, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Education at a Glance 2026 report.
uncertain
teachers → pay → report
School teachers in France earn a gross salary of 41,968 euros ($46,900) per annum compared with 69,453 euros ($77,700) for their German counterparts.
asserted
teachers → earn → counterparts
Social taxes, high pension contributions and the rising cost of living eat into their monthly income.
asserted
taxes → rise → income
What started as a localised strike over school resources has since drawn in trade unions as well as civil servants, and the protests have evolved into a broader economic and political crisis.
asserted
protests → start → crisis
This is due to discontent over the government’s proposed 54-billion-euro ($60bn) package of cost-cutting and tax measures for the 2027 budget, which includes civil servant salary freezes.
asserted
which → propose → freezes
Students and youth fear bearing the brunt of public spending reductions amid a multidecade high in poverty rates and rising costs of living, exacerbated by the United States-Israel war on Iran.
asserted
Students → fear → Iran
Currently, according to Amine Snoussi, a journalist for Le Media TV and a former parliamentary assistant at the French National Assembly, the condition of public high schools is dire since government money is being spent elsewhere.
uncertain
money → accord → schools
“Students are studying in cold, dirty buildings, some of them infested with rats.
asserted
some → study → rats
In some schools, absent teachers haven’t been replaced for over six months.
asserted
teachers → replace → months
And all of this is happening while thousands of teaching jobs are being cut, and while public money keeps flowing to private schools.
asserted
money → happen → schools
That’s what lit the fuse,” he told Al Jazeera.
asserted
he → ’ → Jazeera
The French government has responded to the mass protests by imposing curfews and deploying police across the country to crack down on protesters.
asserted
government → respond → protesters
President Macron has blamed ultra-left groups for trying to “bring down the Republic” and threatened accountability for those involved in violence.
asserted
Macron → blame → violence
On Friday, the French leader met representatives of the student movement for the first time since the protests began.
asserted
protests → meet → time
But the meeting failed to defuse tensions, with student representatives calling for further mobilisation until the government presents concrete actions.
asserted
government → fail → actions
On Monday, during a visit to Marseille, Macron said he has “asked the government to address the legitimate demands at the root of this protest movement”.
asserted
he → say → movement
The government is also expected to announce changes to Parcoursup, France’s national online university admissions platform, according to French media reports.
uncertain
government → expect → reports
Why is the French government struggling to address protesters’ demands?
asserted
government → struggle → demands
Analysts say the French government is struggling to address students’ demands due to a severe fiscal crisis and planned budget cuts, which have led to a drop in the country’s education budget.
asserted
which → say → budget
According to data published by French economist and co-director of the World Inequality Lab Lucas Chancel, “The public budget for higher education, student life, and research (relative to the total number of students in France, once inflation is taken into account) has decreased by 20 percent since 2017.”
uncertain
inflation → accord → 2017
The French government has defended the budget cuts.
asserted
government → defend → cuts
In an address to the nation on October 7, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu acknowledged that “the anger among young people didn’t come out of nowhere” and promised the government would present a plan to address the crisis by the end of October.
asserted
government → acknowledge → October
The French prime minister has also asked his ministers to check spending as France’s national debt has ballooned to about 3.6 trillion euros ($4 trillion), which is equivalent to 119 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
asserted
which → ask → product
Of greater concern to markets than the total debt is France’s growing deficit, however, which is expected to reach 5.4 percent of GDP in 2026 – far above the European Union average of just more than 3 percent.
asserted
which → grow → percent
This is the amount by which a government’s spending exceeds its income.
asserted
spending → exceed → income
But in a report, French economist and professor Thomas Piketty noted that while public debt has increased, the country’s private wealth has also grown from “300 percent to 600 percent of GDP, with extreme concentration among the wealthiest financial fortunes”.
asserted
wealth → note → fortunes
…and 34 more, not listed.
The Aporia
