# Education Spending and Pensions Topic: [[Topics/France 2026 Student Protests and Riots/France 2026 Student Protests and Riots|France 2026 Student Protests and Riots]] · Related analysis: [[Users/@tomaspueyo/Post Analyses/Post Analysis - tomaspueyo on Why France Is in Chaos (2026-10-24)|Pueyo, claims 1–4]] ## How much France spends - **OECD *Education at a Glance 2026*:** France spends **4.6% of GDP** on education vs an OECD average of **4.2%**, and **$13,787** per full-time student vs **$13,601** (2023, PPP) ⚠️ (search excerpts of the France country note). Pueyo's Oct 19 thread says "$13,787 per pupil… 1.4% more than the OECD average". - His Oct 20 thread argues spending is "stable as a share of GDP". Excluding pension contributions, he says it fell from 5% to 4.26% of GDP ⚠️ (his calculation). - France and Czechia tie for the highest primary pupil-to-teacher ratio in the EU, per Pueyo's essay citing the OECD ⚠️. ## The 32% pension share - **Figure:** €28.5bn of €89.1bn in Éducation nationale credits (PLF 2027) go to the **CAS Pensions**: €25.1bn employer contribution plus €3.4bn employee contribution. That is 32%, against 30% at the Interior ministry and about 13% on average across ministries ⚠️ (franceinfo, BFM, Le Parisien, Oct 13; Le Monde, Oct 14). - **Why so high:** the employer contribution rate for state civil servants is **82.28%**, because the scheme has 0.94 contributors per pensioner vs 1.5 in the general regime. - **What it pays for:** the CAS Pensions is one pooled account for all state civil-service pensions, not only teachers'. Each ministry's payroll pays the same rate into it. @CyrilleMoyon pointed out that it also carries legacy pensions such as former PTT and France Télécom staff ⚠️ (his claim; not checked). - **Trend:** the Comptes publics cabinet says the share is "à peu près stable sur les dix dernières années" (roughly stable over the past ten years). Nationally, pension spending rose about 2.5 points of GDP from 2000 to 2023 while education fell about 0.5 point ⚠️. - **Generosity:** the Drees found that applying private-sector rules would *raise* civil-service pensions by 1.5%. - **Pueyo's teacher-cost figures:** "A French teacher costs ~€85k… ~€37k (43%)… paying retired teachers? ~€35k" (Oct 19 thread). His essay says €30k. Pensioners at "94% of the average salary" (thread) vs 90% (essay, citing INSEE) ⚠️ (not reconciled). ## Lost teaching hours - In 2024–25, **7.5%** of secondary teaching hours were not taught because of unreplaced absences (15.4M hours), plus **2.3%** lost to closures: **9.8%** in all (DEPP data, Assemblée nationale report). ## €1 Crous meals - Opened to all students on **May 1, 2026**. Meals served rose **+48%** (+1.3M) since the start of the school year vs 2025 (Cnous). - Queues formed and many sites were at capacity (Ouest-France via L'Étudiant). Cnous asked each site to set a "capacité maximale soutenable". - Budget: €50M extra in 2026, €143M in PLF 2027; the initial cost estimate of €90M assumed only a 10% rise. "Smaller rations" (Pueyo) ❓: not found. ## What the students asked for Unions' "10 mesures d'urgence" (L'Étudiant, Oct 6), and the list in Pueyo's essay: - **Schools:** renovate buildings and hire teachers. - **Universities:** end "sélection algorithmique" (Parcoursup, Mon Master) and add 250,000 university places. - **Cost of living:** guaranteed €1 meals and abolition of higher fees for non-EU students. - **Timetable:** start classes at 9am and study on Wednesday afternoons. This was floated by a citizens' convention; see the L'Étudiant link in the essay. - **Policing and fairness:** less police violence and less discrimination in admissions.