The French like to talk about other people’s money but are reluctant to talk about their own. And this relationship with money, whether it is earned or saved, is very interesting from a sociological point of view.
The Yomoni management company asked the French a series of questions and their answers revealed that, generally speaking, this is a subject that only a small minority, one in six French people, addresses with great ease. And especially when it comes to the question of salary, a particularly taboo subject.
Almost four out of ten employees (38%) never discuss their salary with their colleagues. More than half of them refuse to discuss it with family or friends. And even worse, with strangers. For two-thirds of French people, there is no hesitation in discussing their salary with someone they are meeting for the first time.
While, for example, for Americans this not only poses no problem, but it will also enter into the conversation as naturally as talking about rain or good weather.
The real estate sector is an exception to the rule
The other very French characteristic is that even among employees who agree to talk about what they earn, only a small third do not lie. While the majority consciously reduce the amount of their salary. For what? The question was not asked.
But it is likely that in most cases it is to avoid arousing envy. Knowing that six out of ten French people prefer to socialize with people who have the same income as them. So, to sum up, when you earn a little more than others, you don’t flaunt it.
But the paradox is that, on the other hand, there is one thing that the French will boast about much more easily: it is, for the owners, their real estate assets. Only 15% of them never talk about it. And above all, a third of them exaggerate its value. We are proud of our house or apartment and it is a wealth that we show off much more easily than the income that, however, allowed us to acquire it.
Source: BFM TV
