Why has France struggled to address students’ demands?
Protesters demand more spending on education and social services, but the government has struggled amid a fiscal crisis.
Young people in France continued their nationwide protests over the weekend, demanding better education facilities and a promising future amid the rising cost of living in the country.
France’s Ministry of Interior said 410,000 people protested nationwide on Saturday, including 110,000 in Paris, as the government has struggled to address the issues raised by the student-led protests.
France was also roiled by nearly 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 government address the rising economic inequality, boost welfare and public services, and tax the rich.
The French prime minister has also asked his ministers to check spending as France’s national debt has ballooned to about 3.6 trillion euros ($4 trillion), which is equivalent to 119 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).