Gen Z's frustrations rightly boil over in French protests | Opinion

The nationwide protests in France – which began as youth-led opposition to overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated building infrastructure – have now become a harbinger for what’s to come if Western economies continue to ignore generational wealth disparities.

The unrest is a result of discontent over the French government’s proposed 54 billion euro ($60 billion) package of cost-cutting and tax measures for the 2027 budget, which includes a salary freeze for civil servants.

While the particular unrest and penchant for dramatic arson may be very French, the generational rage fueling it, at least in part, is as American as can be.

As rising costs of living catalyze already high poverty rates, young people in France fear bearing the brunt of public spending reductions worsened by the U.S.-Israel war on Iran.

Even worse, pensions and governmental social safety nets are in global crisis as the young working class’ earnings are extracted to fund the livelihoods of aging populations.

Essentially, boomers are bleeding us dry for their end-of-life socialism.

Experts call this a “dependency trap,” and as sociologists grapple with our global birthrate crisis, we’ll eventually run out of young people to foot the bill.

But, as France shows, solving this multifaceted issue is easier said than done – or burned down. America is learning that now.

The problem with France's generosity

France has one of the most generous social systems in the world, with pensioners having higher income than workers by about 2%.

It’s not cheap, either.

France spends 14% of its gross domestic product on pensions, while the United States and the United Kingdom spend about 7%.

France’s social generosity has put it in a lot of debt. Today, its public debt accounts for 116% of GDP. New data shows that France has the European Union's highest tax burden at 46% of GDP, while its national debt continues to grow.

This leaves only two options: Cut government spending or raise taxes, which are already among the highest in Europe. The French already have a long history of taxing wealth to little success.

Ultimately, the French are unwilling to budge. This isn’t their first time airing out their grievances with the government’s social security actions.

A series of similarly destructive protests began in France in January 2023 with a demonstration of more than 1 million people nationwide against a pension reform bill proposed by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64. (Gen Z Americans hope to be starting the last third of their careers by then.)

Social (in)security isn't exclusive to France

The problem isn’t exclusive to France. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Andy Burnham plans to pass legislation to scrap the state pension triple lock in this Parliament, even though the guarantee will remain until 2030, the government has said.

The policy change guarantees that the state pension rises by the highest of 2.5%, inflation or earnings growth. The adjusted mechanism will mean that the state pension grows in line with earnings over time, instead of outpacing them as is the case with the current triple lock.

In America, Social Security is projected to reach technical insolvency by 2033, threatening retirees with automatic 23% benefit cuts as the program will be unable to pay full benefits on time, according to the Cato Institute.

Social Security needs an overhaul, one that protects retirees from poverty while also ensuring young workers are able to save more – or anything – for their own futures.

It’s abundantly clear that the future sold to Gen Z no longer exists; the ones who sold us that farce made it so. Protests across the globe – not just in France but also in Spain, India and Brazil – show that Gen Z won't sit idly as our future is stripped from us. Young Americans will find our version of burning it all down, one way or another.

Kofi Mframa is an entertainment and culture columnist at USA TODAY.