The new poll “L’Opinion en direct” carried out by the Elabe Institute for BFMTV this Wednesday afternoon brings its share of bad news for the executive. The hostility of a large majority of the French towards his pension reform project is not only confirmed, but it is strengthened and expanded. He pointed out that for the moment the government is dominated in the battle of opinion.
The social movement that is announced and that will meet its first milestone this Thursday is approved for the moment. A possible “blockade of the country” is considered with benevolence to obtain the withdrawal or modifications of the plan drawn up by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne as a result of the presidential program.
BFMTV.com details the lessons of this study that reveals the state of mind of the French on the eve of social confrontation.
Consensus against the reform, with the exception of pensioners
66% of the French thus declare their opposition to the pension reform project. A peloton whose numbers rise strongly in a week: with a jump of seven points. Even 37% are presented as “very opposed” to this set of measures. This trend is predominant in most segments of the population.
Of course, if we still have 34% of the supporters of the reform (after a slide of seven points consequently), is that it must also find its audience.
In fact, 55% of people 65 and older, like 53% of retirees, support it. However, they are the only segment of the population that gives their majority satisfied to the executive plan. However, this won the approval of 41% of merchants and 35% of executives.
The biggest opponents of the project are the intermediate professions (82% detractors after an increase of 14 points) and workers (with 79% critics, an increase of eight points). 75% of people aged 35 to 64 also reject the perspective proposed by the government.
At the political level, while 72% of Emmanuel Macron’s supporters support the plans of the Head of State, 88% of those of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and 79% of those of Marine Le Pen oppose them.
“Unfair” or “indispensable”: the clash of arguments
Elabe also polled his panel as to the reasons for their positions. Among the most cited reasons to justify her aversion to the project, 45% of the opponents maintain that “we should not push back the retirement age” and 44% continue to insist on its “unfair” nature. Beyond the only opponents of the Executive’s policy, 64% of the French (up to six points) also lament the “injustice” of the measures presented.
At the center of this analysis: the idea that it is especially the most modest assets that should make additional efforts, shared by 55% of our compatriots.
But the supporters of the pension reform also have their arguments. His supporters first proposed a project “essential to restore the finances of the pension system” (“essential” mentioned by 68% of them). They also maintain that “living more, it is normal to work more”, words taken up by 55%, after a gain of six points, of the supporters of the reform.
Taken as a whole, the French describe the government’s orientations in this matter bluntly. 57% of them mock an “inefficient project to ensure the sustainability of the pension system” – again an increase of six points – and 53% do not consider it “necessary”. And that’s eight more points to think things like that in a week.
These judgments are widely shared by public opinion, only contradicted by the electorate of the President of the Republic who sees in them both “necessary” (76%), “effective” (68%) and “fair” (63%), and retirees However, these are more weighted. Certainly, they are 57% to mention its “need” but they are only a relative majority of 45% to qualify it as “effective” 42% of retirees even admit that it is “unfair” , compared to 43% who think otherwise.
Mobilization is popular
In this context, we will not be surprised by the approval among the French of the mobilization against the pension reform project. 56% validate it a priori. More specifically, 39% of the panel say they support the next movement, five points more, and 17% their sympathy, this time nine points less. In addition to the 15% indifferent to the question, 29% of the French disapprove of the mobilization.
This disapproval finds a particularly deep echo among retirees – who are 50% to disqualify the demonstrations in advance – but it continues to be a very minority among the rest of the population.
Above all, it is within the active categories -with an approval that rises to 46% after a jump of eight points- and among the popular categories -50% approval with an increase of eight points- where the dynamics have been most spectacular over the years. throughout the days gone by.
This support for the political fight against the pension reform project is such that 55% of the French “would understand a blockade of the country”, seen as “the only way” for the Government to “withdraw or modify it”. This rate even reaches 63% if only active workers are considered. 44% of the French, on the other hand, would not “understand” such a “blockade”.
Sample of 1,000 people representative of the residents of mainland France over 18 years of age. The representativeness of the sample was ensured according to the quota method applied to the following variables: sex, age and profession of the interviewee, prior stratification by region and agglomeration category. Internet interview from January 17 to 18, 2023.
Source: BFM TV
