The OECD's comparison between France, Germany and the UK shows clear differences.

In a recent study, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) compared how satisfied people in France, Germany, and the UK are with social protection. New data from the OECD's "Risks that Matter 2022" survey was used to analyse attitudes towards social programmes in the education, employment promotion, family policy, health, housing, pensions and unemployment sectors. In comparison, French respondents were consistently the least satisfied, although according to the OECD, France performs well in many social programme performance indicators and French social security is comparable to Germany. The authors analysed various factors that affect satisfaction with social protection in order to better understand the differences in respondents' satisfaction between the three countries.

Low satisfaction in France

Back in 2022, only 28 per cent of respondents in France stated that they were satisfied or very satisfied on average with the social protection services in the policy sectors that were surveyed. The proportion was 37 per cent In Germany and 38 per cent in the UK.

There is hardly any difference in risk perception in the three countries. There are almost no significant differences in the assessment of the various social and economic risks, such as job loss or insufficient income, over the next few years.  The situation is very different when it comes to concerns about accessing high-quality healthcare. At 71 per cent, respondents in the UK were significantly more concerned here than those in France (65 per cent) and Germany (56 per cent).

This is not due to social protection

Satisfaction with the social protection systems is also not due to the extent and organisation of social security. The OECD's analyses show that in France, for example, only 17 per cent of respondents are satisfied with their pensions, even though pension entitlements are the highest there. France also performs comparatively well in most OECD indicators covering healthcare services. Nevertheless, the satisfaction rate here is only 14 per cent. This is extremely low when compared to Germany's 47 per cent. The difference here is striking, even after taking into account the higher expenditure and the higher concentration of doctors in Germany. It is also particularly noteworthy that in the UK, which performs worst of the three countries in terms of objective healthcare indicators, the proportion of satisfied respondents, at 43 per cent, is three times higher than in France.

In its analysis, the OECD highlights the fact that per capita spending on social programmes in France stagnated in real terms in the years under review. On the other hand, it has risen significantly in Germany in some sectors, especially with regard to family support and disability benefits. However, according to the OECD, even this stagnation does not adequately explain the widespread dissatisfaction of the French with their social protection. Especially not when you look at the UK.

Culture and expectations as an explanation

The study highlighted the fact that France often has a low level of satisfaction in comparison to other countries. The term "French Dissatisfaction Puzzle" was introduced in academic literature to cover this.

According to the authors of the study, the high expectations placed on the French welfare state are probably still relevant. People might well be especially sensitive if their expectations are not met in a country where equality and solidarity are paramount and where the state has traditionally played a very strong role in the social protection sector.

Socio-economic characteristics could also play a role here. Supporters of radical right-wing and left-wing parties as well as non-voters, are generally much more dissatisfied with social policy than supporters of established parties. As the group of voters from radical parties and non-voters is larger in France than in Germany, the authors believe that this group is particularly important when it comes to understanding the high level of general dissatisfaction among the French.