The question is historically delicate. Are French teachers on average paid much less than their European or global counterparts? Unions regularly present figures showing very significant wage differences with comparable countries, especially in Europe.
Low wages would even be the source of difficulties in attracting people to the profession. On the eve of the start of the 2023/2024 school year, more than 3,100 places have not been covered in teaching competitions.
Given the discontent of teachers, for months or even years, the government has promised a 10% salary increase, which will take effect in September. “All teachers (regular and contractual) will benefit as such from a salary increase of almost 100 euros net per month,” the Ministry of National Education announced last April.
Specifically, the Government wants to double the amount of the statutory bonus collected and guarantee that the remuneration of tenured professors at the beginning of their career exceeds 2,000 euros net per month.
For the OECD, up to a 19% difference for a school teacher
It is not enough for the unions. According to Snes-Fsu, it will actually be “5.5% on average. It must be remembered that teachers have lost between 15 and 25% of purchasing power in 20 years.” “From this 10% we will have to subtract the recent increase of 3.5% in the index point (in July 2022, ndr),” adds the CGT. What maintains an abysmal gap according to them between the salaries of French teachers and those of the OECD.
The latest report “Education at a glance” 2022 from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) proves them right. In fact, school teachers earn “10% less than the OECD average and, after 15 years of service, 19% less,” says Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the organization in The student.
They earn €34,000 gross per year, compared to the OECD average of €42,000. These are the figures that the profession regularly presents.
The same is true in the second major, where pay is 3% lower, including bonuses, than the OECD average, i.e. $35,709 per year (at the start of the major, at university in 2021, for minimum qualifications, including mandatory bonuses) compared to an average of US$36,998 in the OECD and US$37,596 on average in the European Union. In our German neighbors this average is even 77,358 dollars and 48,796 dollars in Spain.
Nuanced differences taking into account the effective salary
Generally speaking, France ranks 17th out of 38 in terms of compensation.
But for the research company Asterès, which is based on the same OECD study, “the wage gap is much smaller if real wages are taken into account.” Indeed, “to compare the remuneration actually received by teachers, it seems preferable to maintain the real salary (including, in particular, bonuses and supplements) to the legal salary,” read a note published on Monday.
“In this case, according to Asterès calculations, the average effective salaries of peri-primary, primary and lower and upper secondary teachers were, in 2021, 2% lower in France compared to the average of OECD countries” , secure the cabinet.
In addition, the differences highlighted by the OECD report must be qualified by the variations in living standards.
“For example, the legal salaries at the beginning of the primary career were 71,812 dollars in Luxembourg in 2021, compared to 16,534 dollars in Latvia. This gap is mainly explained by the difference in the average standard of living and the average salaries between these two countries and does not indicate that, taking into account the average salaries of these countries, Luxembourgish or Latvian teachers are overpaid or underpaid”, it is stressed.
Salaries that have already increased but much less than elsewhere
Consequently, according to Asterès, “the remuneration of French teachers seems comparable to that of the OECD countries”.
And to conclude: “the only comparison of teacher salaries between OECD countries is insufficient to conclude that teachers are overpaid or underpaid in a country. In 2021, average salaries in France were 3% lower than the average for OECD countries.Thus, the 2 Percentage gap between the salaries of French teachers and OECD teachers seems to be due more to a general pay gap than to the fact that French teachers are “underpaid”. compared to other countries.
Beyond the statutory or effective salaries, other data seem to show a certain French lag. Example with the progression of remuneration.
According to the OECD report, the salaries of certified secondary school teachers increased by 4.5% between 2015 and 2021, at constant prices, compared to an increase of 6.2% on average in the OECD and even 9.6 % in Germany.
Source: BFM TV
