ABSTRACT
In France, even more than in other modern societies, employment is the keystone of the edifice. Abundant and well-paid, it is a source of individual prosperity and public generosity. Based on an analysis of a number of the major determinants of the demand and, in a more cursory manner, the supply of employment, this will be developed on the basis of the French example, although it could easily be extended to other European countries. As traditionally calculated for the population between the ages of 15 and 64, employment rates in Europe are very much below those in the United States and Japan. Moreover, in the European context, France is well behind the Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom, where the employment rate is over 70 per cent and is tending to increase. The quality of the jobs available will depend very largely on the scale of contemporary social transfers and longer-term commitments.
