France’s 35-Hour Workweek: Myths and Realities

Many Americans were perplexed when a French Socialist government introduced a thirty-five-hour workweek nearly a decade ago. It seemed anomalous, especially given the constraints imposed by globalization. How could the French accept a uniformly imposed reduction of the workweek, even if its aim was to reduce unemployment by creating jobs, and even if “the French work so little,” as popular myth has it? Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president last spring with a clear program: “Work more to...