April 14, 2025 article from the New Anticapitalist Party-Revolutionaries (NPA-R) in France, translated from French
As the [French] government announces a new “effort” of €40 to €50 billion ($45 to $56 billion) for the 2026 budget, let’s take a look back at the effects of the already massive cuts that have taken place over the past year. Under the pretext of fighting government debt, this social shock is devastating entire sections of the community and social sector and exacerbating the impoverishment of the working classes, particularly those in precarious situations and the most vulnerable.
Associations on bread and water
The Mouvement Associatif (which represents half of all associations in France) is sounding the alarm: a third of the associations that responded to a recent survey will not be able to replace departing staff or will have to cancel planned recruitment; 8% are considering layoffs. This social bloodletting, a direct consequence of cuts in state and local government funding in a sector already weakened by the Covid crisis and inflation, will result in a decline in activities, even for associations that rely on volunteers. This will mean fewer sports activities for children, less help with job placement, fewer language classes for migrants, and fewer cultural and artistic activities in schools and neighborhoods.
A massive social plan with the vibe of a chainsaw
These financial difficulties will also result in a massive wave of job cuts among educators, association employees, etc. Thousands of structures are under threat and it is obviously difficult to get an accurate picture of the number of jobs that are or will be lost. In the social sector alone, the figures are staggering: last October, employers in the social sector (Udes) estimated that 186,000 job losses were on the way. This is undoubtedly a low estimate… coming from the very people who are passing on the cuts and implementing the redundancies…
In the Pays de la Loire region, Christelle Morançais (a former member of Les Républicains who joined Horizon, the party of Macron’s former prime minister and already a candidate for the 2027 presidential election, Édouard Philippe) was among the first to take up a chainsaw at the end of 2024, cutting 75% of the cultural and social budget, or €100 million. This impacts culture, such as festivals, theaters, cinemas, but also sports, inclusion, gender equality, etc. Hundreds of organizations and thousands of jobs are threatened. One example is Mobilis, a regional book and reading center, which has just announced that it will be laying off all five of its employees this summer. It will have to cut a large part of its support for authors and its reading support activities in rural areas and nursing homes.
Cuts to social assistance and opportunities for the poor
The cuts also directly affect social assistance recipients, as in Lorraine, where child welfare assistance (SAE), which provides a minimum subsistence level for children in precarious situations, will be reduced by decision of the department. Foreign families are even being asked to provide recent proof of their efforts to regularize their status… which effectively excludes them, given the processing times in [local regions]! Or how, in passing, to introduce a national preference that does not say its name!
In the north, the department had announced cuts of $3 million in funding for specialized prevention associations, which would have resulted in the loss of 60 education jobs and left hundreds of young people and families in the lurch. But 1,300 employees protested in early February, prompting the department president (like a state governor in the U.S.) to withdraw the measure two weeks later.
Budget cuts are not inevitable
Hit hard by austerity, social workers have shown that they are not willing to give in. In the Pays de la Loire region, artists and association employees demonstrated against the cuts. In other departments (Essonne, Doubs, Gironde, Rhône, etc.), employees went on strike and demonstrated, but the cuts were not canceled. The success of the strikes and demonstrations on April 1, which brought together nearly 30,000 people, enabled these mobilizations to go beyond the scope of individual workplaces or departments. Gathered in general assemblies in many cities, the strikers also set themselves the goal of continuing the mobilization with a week of action planned around May 15.
