Why French people are thought of as lazy
French workers have at least 5 weeks of holiday per year, more than twice the US standard. They pioneered "the right to disconnect" after a day's work. They have been protesting for months against a pension reform that would raise the age of retirement from 62 to 64 for most people. Lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau recently defended French people's "right to be lazy" in a debate at the National Assembly, which also happens to be the title of a famous philosophy essay penned by socialist thinker Paul Lafargue in the 19th Century. US based historian Robert Zaretsky, who specialises in European intellectual history, penned an op-ed on the topic. And in the US an increasing number of young people have started "quiet quitting", or refusing to go above and beyond what is asked of them at work.
The French love a long holiday. And a strike. But are they really work-averse?
Video by Daphnée Denis, Series Producer Anna Bressanin
