The French social model is neither inefficient nor outdated. It has a great ambition which can be expressed simply: permanently to level up. We must keep it. In a way it's our national genius. It's a necessity.

Jack,
in annual National Day ("Bastille Day") television interview
PALAIS DE L'ÉLYSÉE, July 14, 2005 (Élysée)

Yes, hhmmm. Well, that French genius thing isn't working out.

THE FRENCH EXODUS

April 5, 2007 (Time) - A 2005 TNS Sofres poll shows that about half of those departing are under the age of 35, and that one of the main reasons they give for moving is the desire to leave France. What's more, they show little inclination to return. A whopping 93% say they are pleased with their new life, while 45% only intend to return to France when they retire — or never.

... Youth unemployment of 22% is easily one of the highest in Europe, both east and west, and it's not just school leavers with few or no qualifications who can't land a job. More than 7% of French university graduates in their late 20s are unemployed — one of the worst records in the European Union and about 50% higher than the E.U. average. Moreover, many of the jobs that are available to young people, even highly skilled ones, tend to be short-term and poorly paid. That's a consequence of a skewed labor market, which provides so much protection to full-time employees that firms are reluctant to hire people for anything other than temporary positions.

Marc Cheb Sun, the editor of Respect, a French magazine that focuses on ethnic minorities, says the decision to pack up and leave is now increasingly common among second-generation immigrants. "What's new is that young people are leaving because they are saying: there's no place for me here," he says.

The French tell their stories best.

Expatriate Benoît Lavaud, 33, designer, proprietor of Japanese clothing line, and nightlife entrepreneur, Tokyo:

Japan is far more welcoming to young entrepreneurs. A lot of young people have dreams, but in France we've lost the energy to turn them into reality.

Expatriate Laurent Girard-Claudon, 30, proprietor of recuiting firm, Dublin

In France, even the word jeune (young) has a bad connotation. But we are the ones with the energy and will. Confidence in the future, in the job, in your neighbors, your friends — that confidence has got lost in France.

Expatriate Florence Cellot, 32, marketing specialist, London via Tokyo:

If you are young, you don't have the feeling in France that people are investing in you. ... France is like an old lady. It is paralyzed by the fear of what it could lose.

PFFT (What is this?): Leaving fabulous France 4 | Dreams abroad 4 | Rayonnement français 0