This page is one of the annex pages of www.understandfrance.org, the foremost site on Franco-American intercultural differences. It contains documents, facts and figures illustrating the content of some of its pages.

Facts & figures

This page contains Facts and Figures about France and the French. Some are significant, other less so.... French opinions Vision of the future Immigration French society

(credit)

French opinions...		French society
The French do not like market economy ! According to a poll for the University of Maryland (GlobalScan, Aug.2005, in: Le Figaro March 25,2006), the answer to the question "The system of free entreprise and market economy is it the best for the future?" are :  %  YES  NO  China  74  20  Philippines  73  22  U.S.A.  71  24  South Korea  70  19  India  70  17  Indonesia  68  29  Great-Britain  67  27  Nigeria  66  29  Canada  65  29  Germany  65  32  Spain  63  28  Poland  63  19  Mexico  61  38  Italy  59  31  Kenya  59  25  Brazil  55  30  Turkey  47  36  Russia  43  34  Argentina  42  29  France  36  50 See another comparative poll on related items with substantial differences between French and American answers		France has among the lowest % of women in national parliaments (source : Le Monde March 8, 2005) : Sweden 45% Finland 38% Denmark 37% Netherlands 37% Spain 36% Belgium 35%  Austria 34% Germany 33% Luxembourg 23% Lithuania 22% Latvia 21% Poland 20%  Portugal 20% Estonia 19% UK 18% Czech Rep. 17% Slovakia 17% Cyprus 16%  Greece 14% Ireland 13% France 12% (up to 18% after the 2007 elections) Slovenia 12% Italy 12% Malta 9% Hungary 9% NONOs about pickpockets. Paris is the playground for the best pickpockets in the world (Romanian, Colombians,...). They zoom in on Americans who offer them the most tempting situations by : Carrying a wallet in the back-pocket of their pants (men) Leaving their handbags open in the metro, or on the floor in a restaurant (women) Believing that a rucksack is a safe place for values (it can be emptied without your noticing it) Engaging in a conversation with charming kids : you do not understand what they say and you are very careful to what they say because you are a nice person and you want to help them ; during this conversation, their older sister (or brother) steals everything you have on you etc.... Back to DOs&DONTs.
Identity test for French Muslims, compared with other European countries (source : Pew Research Center, in I.H.T.July 7, 2006)    France  UK  Germany  Spain  USA Muslims feeling more National  42%  7%  13%  3%   Muslims feeling more Muslim  46%  81%  66%  69%   Christians feeling more National  83%  59%  59%  60%  48% Christians feeling more Christian  14%  24%  33%  14%  42%  "very worried" about unemployment  52%  46%  56%  55%    "very worried" about Islamic extremism  30%  44%  23%  22%    See decline in importance of religion  21%  45%  18%  18%   More about communautarism. Asked about the most frightening/reassuring word, the French answer (Médiamétrie Poll, Parisien, 15/12/2008) : most frightening : Bush, lay-offs, unemployment, financial krach, crazy finance, financial tsunamy, subprimes, traders, crisis, golden parachutes, toxic financial products, contamination most reassuring : Obama, Europe, euro, Livret A (the popular saving accounts), moralizing economy, transparency, protection, State, reform, salvage plan, central european bank closest to people : Livret A, savings, Nicolas Sarkozy, guarantee of state, real economy, austerity, nationalisations                             Vision of the future : a comparative poll		Respondents of 6 countries were asked what they thought about the number of legal immigrants residing in their country (Source : I.H.T./France24, IHT May 25, 2007)    Too many  About right  Too few and not sure  UK  67%  20%  13%  Italy  55%  26%  19%  Germany  55%  32%  13%  Spain  45%  28%  27%  USA  35%  43%  22%  France  32%  52%  16% Opinion on immigration : Europe and the US (Source Transatlantic Trends, German Marschall Fund 2008 in Le Monde Nov.18, 2008)  Question  USA  Europe  Extreme answers Immigration does NOT increase crime  48%  44% France 70% Italy 30% Immigrants take our jobs  51%  34% UK 52% France 24% Immigration is more a problem than an opportunity  62%  47% for France and Netherlands, it's more an opportunity Controls at borders must be strengthen  83%  80%   Employers of illegal immigrants must be punished  74%  84%   Illegal immigrants should be sent back to their country  69%  70%   When legal, they should have the same civil rights  59%  58%    ...same social benefits 58%   73%   More on immigration. Facts about abortion in France Legal since 1975 (Loi Veil) and called IVG ("Interruption Volontaire de Grossesse" for volontary interruption of pregnancy) ; it is never a subject of political controversy Not possible after 12 weeks pregnancy the number is stable : 206,000 IVG par year (2005) Reimbursed by Social Security since Dec.31, 1982 Since 2000, emergency contraceptives (" the next-day pill ") can be sold over the counter and are free for minors In Europe, abortion is legal in 24 countries, forbidden in two (Ireland and Malta) and on the way to become legal in one (Portugal) No European regulation : the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that all moral questions involved are the responsibility of each member state Back to French society
(ranking)  "my future is promising"  "the future of our society is promising"  "I am sure I'll have a good job in the future"  France  25,6% (8/10)  4,2% (10/10)  27,0% (8/10)  USA  54,1 (2/10)  17,9 ((2/10)  59,6 (2/10)  Germany  36,5  9,7  34,3  UK  35,9  6,9  38,6  Denmark  59,6  25,9  60,0  Sweden  49,2  17,7  43,2  Spain  31,6  6,8  35,8  Russia  28,1  11,2  42,0  Poland  23,6  4,7  25,3  Italy  22,6  6,7  26,0  (source : 22,000 young people 15-29 by Kairos/Fondapol, Le Figaro Jan.4, 2008) Other questions : "to make a good career, one must stick to other people's expectations" : France 54%, USA 34% "to have a good life, one needs a lot of money" : France 30%, USA 29% Back to national mood and French education

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Harriet Welty Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French. Order her books : "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999 "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001 "French Toast - Heureuse comme une Américaine en France", Ramsay, Paris 2005 More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming events, testimonials, etc..)

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