Fairness vs Egalite

Fairness versus Egalite: That's how Bill Wells, an expert from the UK Department of Work and Pensions, described the difference between the British and French social security systems. Diplomatic speak during a briefing at the British Embassy in Paris for how the egalite of the French system helps everyone, including a lot of people who don't need it. While the British system focuses help on those who need it most.
'From a UK perspective the French system seems to focus on quite a lot of groups of people who might not need their help,' he said. 'The balance seems towards the advantaged as opposed to the disadvantaged.'
In the English, er uhum, the British system (even civil servants slip up sometimes), he said 'there has been an increasing focus on the most disadvantaged people. There is always a roundabout of jobs. The government sees its role as standing next to the roundabout of jobs and helping people onto it.'
The biggest difference in employment rates between France and the UK is among young people, women, and old people - the most vulnerable groups of the workforce - who find it harder to get a job in France.
The way the welfare system is funded can also have an effect on employment, he said. France, like the U.S., is based on 'social insurance' levying payments from employers and employees. The U.K. funds its benefits from the general tax pool. The OECD says the social insurance model is damaging to employment, Wells said, adding casually that the UK has the highest employment rate of all G7 countries. Insurance payments are regressive, he said. Because they are set at a fixed percentage of income, they punch the biggest hole in the poorest people's pockets. 'This means that people don't go to look for work.'
In response to criticisms that the British employment figures are supported by an abundance of McJobs - low paid, unstable and part-time - Wells said that the British system doesn't make 'value judgements' on different types of jobs. Students, mothers with children, those nearing retirement age, may wish for a job that doesn't come with the restrictive constraints that come from a standard contract. One size doesn't fit all. And less regulation can even lead to better jobs.
'The rules regarding temporary work are the most liberal in the world, yet there is a low level of temporary work,' he said of the UK system. 'Restrictions on permanant work means employers divert their attention to temporary work.'
'We don't have a code de travail,' he said. 'We have employment legislation which you could probably put on one page.'
Still, young people get more help than in France. And they have more security. Villepin's proposed CPE contract 'was less restrictive than the UK system,' he said because the period you can be fired with no reason is longer.