Why has France struggled to address students’ demands?

Young individuals in France continued their nationwide protests over the weekend, demanding better education facilities and a promising future against the backdrop of the rising cost of living in the country.

Key points

• School teachers in France earn a gross salary of 41, 968 euros ($46, 900) per annum compared with 69, 453 euros ($77, 700) for their German counterparts.
• This is due to discontent over the government's proposed 54-billion-euro ($60bn) package of cost-cutting and tax measures for the 2027 budget.
• France was additionally roiled by almost two years of protests beginning in 2018 over the high cost of living and opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies.
• The French prime minister has additionally asked his ministers to check spending as France's national debt has ballooned to concerning 3.6 trillion euros ($4 trillion).
• Antonio Fatas, a professor of economics at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, informed Al Jazeera: "France has a more redistributive system than other European countries – at least similar".

As the administration has struggled to address the matters raised by the student-led protests, france's Ministry of Interior remarked 410, 000 residents protested nationwide on Saturday, including 110, 000 in Paris.

France was additionally roiled by almost two years of protests beginning in 2018 over the high cost of living and opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron's economic policies. Those protests, which were led by the Yellow Vests movement, demanded that the administration address the rising economic inequality, boost welfare and public services, and tax the rich.

As the young protesters take to the streets, plenty of of the old demands remain unfulfilled. So, why have French politicians been unable to address the problems facing the country? Here's what we know. Why are young individuals in France protesting now?

In practice, the youth-led protests in France erupted last month against the backdrop of deteriorating conditions in schools, broader economic anxieties and opposition to administration budget cuts.

For context, the protests began in mid-September after high school students blockaded campuses over overcrowded classrooms (often 32-35 pupils per room), unreplaced teacher absences, and dilapidated building infrastructure.

As they expressed frustration with shrinking public resources and state investment, protesters have waved placards reading statements like "We have a future to build, not to endure".

Teachers have additionally joined the students protesting over low salaries. French teachers are paid less on average than their counterparts in other European countries like Germany, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Education at a Glance 2026 report.

School teachers in France earn a gross salary of 41, 968 euros ($46, 900) per annum compared with 69, 453 euros ($77, 700) for their German counterparts. Social taxes, high pension contributions and the rising cost of living eat into their monthly income.

What began as a localised strike over school resources has since drawn in trade unions as well as civil servants, and the protests have evolved into a broader economic and political crisis.

This is due to discontent over the government's proposed 54-billion-euro ($60bn) package of cost-cutting and tax measures for the 2027 budget. It includes civil servant salary freezes.

Students and youth fear bearing the brunt of public spending reductions against the backdrop of a multidecade high in poverty rates and rising costs of living, exacerbated by the United States-Israel war on Iran.

At present, according to Amine Snoussi, a journalist for Le Media TV and a former parliamentary assistant at the French National Assembly, the condition of public high schools is dire since administration funds is being spent elsewhere.

"Students are studying in cold, dirty buildings, some of them infested with rats. In some schools, absent teachers haven't been replaced for over six months. And all of this is happening while thousands of teaching jobs are being cut, and while public funds keeps flowing to private schools. That's what lit the fuse, " he informed Al Jazeera. What has been the government's response?

In practice, the French administration has responded to the mass protests by imposing curfews and deploying police nationwide to crack down on protesters.

President Macron has blamed ultra-left groups for trying to "bring down the Republic" and threatened accountability for those involved in violence.

On Friday, the French leader met representatives of the student movement for the first time since the protests began.

But the session failed to defuse tensions, with student representatives calling for further mobilisation until the administration presents concrete actions.

On Monday, during a visit to Marseille, Macron remarked he has "asked the government to address the legitimate demands at the root of this protest movement".

Meanwhile, the administration is additionally projected to announce changes to Parcoursup, France's national online university admissions platform, according to French media reports. Why is the French administration struggling to address protesters' demands?

Analysts say the French administration is struggling to address students' demands due to a severe fiscal crisis and planned budget cuts. It have led to a drop in the country's education budget.

According to data published by French economist and co-director of the World Inequality Lab Lucas Chancel, "The public budget for higher education, student life, and research (relative to the total number of students in France, once inflation is taken into account) has decreased by 20 percent since 2017." The French administration has defended the budget cuts.

In an address to the nation on October 7, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu acknowledged that "the anger among young people didn't come out of nowhere" and promised the administration would present a plan to address the crisis by the end of October.

Meanwhile, the French prime minister has additionally asked his ministers to check spending as France's national debt has ballooned to concerning 3.6 trillion euros ($4 trillion). It is equivalent to 119 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

Of greater concern to markets than the total debt is France's growing deficit, nevertheless. It is anticipated to reach 5.4 percent of GDP in 2026 – far above the European Union average of just more than 3 percent. This is the amount by which a government's spending exceeds its income.

But in a report, French economist and professor Thomas Piketty observed that while public debt has climbed, the country's private wealth has additionally grown from "300 percent to 600 percent of GDP, with extreme concentration among the wealthiest financial fortunes".

"In other words, France has never been richer. The difficulty to solve is simply one of distribution, " he went on. Does France have a wealth distribution difficulty?

France has relatively low to moderate income inequality, but wealth redistribution has been an matter of debate, particularly in left-wing political groups.

Individuals aged 60 and older. This person form a quarter of the population, own 60 percent of the country's wealth (non-financial and financial), according to a January 2026 review by prominent French economic policy think tank OFCE. A massive chunk of administration funds go to service social security.

In practice, a administration report seen by the Reuters news agency earlier this month additionally observed that almost one-third of some French ministries' budgets pay for the pensions of retired civil ‌servants. It reduces spending on education and other priorities.

Snoussi informed Al Jazeera that the wealth distribution question has always been central to current French politics.

"Macron is called the rich people's president for a reason. He always supports rich individuals and has never managed to create a form of equality between classes, " he stated.

Macron has been branded "the president of the rich" for cutting the wealth tax. He has additionally faced criticism for his economic policies aimed at modernising the economy and creating jobs. His decision to impose a fuel tax triggered the 2018 so-called Yellow Vests protests, a grassroots movement seeking administration intervention to address inequality.

Critics say his policies resulted in redistribution of wealth upward and affected the working-class population. But Macron has defended his policies, particularly his decision on wealth tax, saying that forcing the wealthy out of the country won't support the poor.

"I don't believe in this French jealousy which says, 'There are rich people; let's tax them and we will all feel better, '" he informed The New York Times in a 2017 interview.

He explained that redistribution is a set of programmes of taxes and transfers that redistribute income from high-income individuals towards lower-income individuals. The real matter, Fatas stated, is deeper.

"France's expansion has been limited for years. With low expansion, it is not hard to imagine parts of the population that are unhappy with the progress they see, and this leads to demands for a solution in the form of administration backing or redistribution, " he remarked.

France is at present facing significant fiscal stress, with its annual budget deficit forecast at 5.4 percent of its GDP, well above the standard European Union ceiling of 3 percent. The country additionally remains heavily backed by its public sector, with state expenditures consuming roughly 57 percent of its total GDP – including a notable 14 percent allocated strictly towards worker pensions.

"The assumption is that someone out there is rich enough that they can be taxed. While I can imagine in a more progressive system in France, one has to be careful regarding the limitations of these apparent solutions, " Fatas went on. So how should the administration respond?

For now, why has France struggled to address students' demands? Remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.