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According to a recent Ifop poll, working more to earn more is no longer on the agenda of the French, who prefer to give more space to family life and their quality of life.
“Work is health” sang Henri Salvador in 1965. But today, is this still the case? How do the French perceive their work? Answers with the study carried out by Ifop, in partnership with the Association “Solutions solidaires”.
59% of French people place less importance on work
Thus, out of 100% of occupied workers, 59% of French people grant a “less important or secondary place” at work.
Those who favor it, conversely (41%), belong to the category of young active people (under 35), belong to the upper middle class and tend to have high positions (company directors).
46% of them believe that work is important “but less than family life, friends and hobbies“. Only 7% of French people believe that work is the most important thing in their life.
A way of thinking, which does not surprise the sociologist Jean Viard, director of research at the CNRS, interviewed by France info.
“I think the question of the four-day week, even if it means working longer during the day, will arise.”
Another figure which clearly illustrates this change in mentality: in 2008, 38% of French people would prefer to “earn less money to have more free time”. They are now 60%.
Work: what do the French really want?
At the top of the podium, we find the fact of “guaranteeing everyone a good level of salary”, in particular by raising the minimum wage (the French therefore wish to earn enough to live, but not necessarily more), to better share with their company the fruits of his work (salary/dividend balance), to restore meaning and usefulness to his work and to reduce the gap between salaries.
Alternative companies – such as associations, cooperatives and solidarity mutuals – are also of interest to the majority of French people surveyed.
On the other hand, teleworking is not a priority.