Spiraling costs of social welfare programmes strain France's budget
Spiralling costs of cradle-to-grave services are straining the nation's ability to raise enough taxes to pay for expectations of French
Patrick Jouve, the owner of a game store on the Rue Louis Braille here, assails the government regulations that limit the size of the bright chess set and bouncing balls he has painted on his storefront. If the painting covers more than 11 metres, it constitutes advertising and he has to pay a fee of US$1,350.
Down the street, Virginie Chargros, a baker's wife, depends on the US$404 monthly "family subsidy" she gets from the government to help raise the couple's three children. She and her husband work six days a week and bring in about US$2,200 a month, but without the subsidy they would have trouble providing the family with some "small pleasures", she said.
The pervasive presence of government in French life, from workplace rules to health and education benefits, is the subject of a great debate as the nation grapples with whether it can sustain the post-second world war model of social democracy.
The spiralling costs of cradle-to-grave social welfare programmes have all but exhausted the French government's ability to raise the taxes necessary to pay for it all, creating growing political problems for President Francois Hollande, a Socialist.
The nation's capability to compete globally is being called into question, and investors are shying away from layers of government regulation and high taxes.
But on the streets of this midsize city 500 kilometres southeast of Paris, the discussion is not abstract or even overtly political. Conversations here bring to life how many people, almost unconsciously, tailor their education, work habits and aspirations to benefits they see as intrinsic elements of their lives.