![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/the-french-have-got-even-lazier-study-shows-with-vast-majority-happy-to-work-less/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/1668457222542.jpg&description=Famed for their marathon holidays, extended lunches and 35-hour working week, the French have long basked in the enviable image of enjoying life's pleasures while, somehow, getting the job done. But the Covid pandemic has taken the French view of a proper work-life balance to new extremes, with a new study claiming that France has succumbed to a 'laziness epidemic' in which swathes of the country say they "can't be bothered" to work hard, go out or even socialise. Many people in France are quite happy to work fewer hours even if that means earning less money, according to findings by Ifop and the Jean-Jaurès foundation. In 1990, some 60% of French people said work was 'very important' in their life, compared to 31% for leisure. Today, those who view work as a high priority has plummeted to 24% while 41% view leisure as very important. READ MORE: * Are you addicted to work? Global survey aims to answer yes or no * Meet the couple who spend half the year apart * Tourists crowding public transport a double-edged sword * Pay rise winners and losers: The industries where wages are soaring or stalling * Vanessa Honoré: Moving to New Zealand, yeah-nah, it's sweet as * We're all addicted to being busy. But I'm not enjoying it. A new study claims that France has succumbed to a 'laziness epidemic'. Since the Covid pandemic subsided, 37%of French say they are less motivated to work. The figures vary widely according to political persuasion, with supporters of Leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon being more than twice as likely to say they have lost their will to work than supporters of Emmanuel Macron - 61% to 28% respectively. Overall, two-thirds are happy to work less to earn less today. By comparison, in 2008 two-thirds of French said they were happy to 'work more to earn more', the presidential campaign slogan of conservative then French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Many workers questioned the meaning of their professional lives when 11 million people were furloughed during the){kind=link}
Study appears to boost Leftist claims of ‘right to idleness’ as French happy to earn less for more leisure time
Famed for their marathon holidays, extended lunches and 35-hour working week, the French have long basked in the enviable image of enjoying life’s pleasures while, somehow, getting the job done.
But the Covid pandemic has taken the French view of a proper work-life balance to new extremes, with a new study claiming that France has succumbed to a “laziness epidemic” in which swathes of the country say they “can’t be bothered” to work hard, go out or even socialise.
Many people in France are quite happy to work fewer hours even if that means earning less money, according to findings by Ifop and the Jean-Jaurès foundation.
In 1990, some 60 per cent of French people said work was “very important” in their life, compared to 31 per cent for leisure. Today, those who view work as a high priority has plummeted to 24 per cent while 41 per cent view leisure as very important.