English to French translation

Goodbye to la belle France?

May 9, 2007

There is an article in today’s Guardian about how France might change now that Sarkozy is in charge. What interested me most was a few statistics comparing the USA, which the new president openly admires and wants to emulate, and France as they are now.

America v France
How the two countries compare

Population
US: 301m. France: 61m
Life expectancy
US: male 75.15 years, female 80.97 years.
France: male 77.35 years, female 84 years.
Median age
US: 36.6 years. France: 39 years
Working week
US: approx 46 hours. France: usually 35 hours
Population living below the poverty line (for two adults and one child)
US: 12%. France: 6.2%
Minimum wage
US: varies widely from state to state - no such thing in Alabama. France: €8.27
Usual retirement age
US: 65-67. France: 60
Prison population
US: 2 million plus. France: 50,500 plus
Number of murders a year
US: 16,692. France: approx 1,000
Number of overweight citizens
US: a little more than two thirds. France: a little under one third
Public transport
US: bus, train and subway are all hit and miss. France: train, metro, bus and tram are all notoriously punctual

It’ll be interesting to see whether some of these figures change much in the next five years (the working week, the minimum wage, the retirement age, the prison population in particular).

Comments

Quite interesting figures, but they do not reflect social aspects of society. And I think it is in those aspects where France is going to lose a lot. I am spanish, so I don't really have something to win or won, but I think Segolene was the best choice in this election, because of her left-wing program

What is missing and perhaps worth adding to this debate is that France and USA share some very similar attitudes to the outside world, born of similar environmental factors.
The citizens of both countries don't have to travel beyond their borders - they have mountains, sea, sun, agriculture and their own relatively defined concepts of what constitutes a good and successful life. They are less confronted with having to make the choice of mixing and integrating with other cultures, and thus their ideologies are more protectionist than the average nation. The downside for these countries as world players (which give them their own brand of chauvinism - not saying others aren't) is that when their view isn't shared by the outer world, they become sort of truculant, stick-in-the-muds and inward-looking. In saying all this, I am talking about the political collectives, and not being personal.

I just wanted to let you know that I read your blog daily. It is great! One clarification though: when states like Alabama don't have a minimum wage, the federal minimum wage is used, which is $5.15 per hour. States can go above that, but not below. It's still not great, but it's better than nothing.

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