French Socialism Confronts the Real World

AP reports on the French government's decision to at long last scrap one of the hallmarks of Jospin's socialist dream -- the thirty-five hour work week.

By LAURENCE FROST, AP Business Writer

PARIS - Sophie Guilbaud not only holds a full-time job, she also helps run her son's nursery and treats herself to regular weekdays of shopping, movies and art shows. The secret to her balancing act is a remarkable piece of social engineering — France's 35-hour workweek. Introduced under the Socialists but headed for effective abolition by lawmakers Tuesday, "les 35 heures" have been a boon for some but, critics argue, a big drain on the economy.

There are wider implications:

Heated debate over dismantling the working time law has fed into wider political and literary soul-searching in France, on themes ranging from the country's economic frailty and bureaucratic office culture to whether quality of life should be measured in time or money.

Abolition of the 35 hour experiment is most strongly supported by the very people it was designed to help -- the working class and the marginally employed.

Amid soaring unemployment and stagnating wages, the reform is supported by jobseekers and even by factory workers, according to a survey that pollsters CSA published last month — and by 46 percent of the overall population, with 43 percent opposed.

And what about women?

Often touted as the working mother's godsend, the 35-hour week actually made life harder for poorer women and single parents, according to women's organization CLEF.

"The women that suffered were the lowest paid, who needed all the overtime they could get to make ends meet," said CLEF president Monique Halpern. "I think this is one of the reasons that Lionel Jospin lost the elections."

Read the whole thing here.

Socialism always looks good on paper -- so elegant, so rational, so scientific... that's why it appeals to intellectuals and bureaucrats. But then it comes into contact with the messiness of the real world and the wheels come off. You would think we would have learned by now.