Should I remove a day fériéen to finance the addiction? The idea is more to talk about. The Medef would even like to remove two out of the eleven that account France, saying that it could boost the growth of nearly 1%. Because if such an action may seem trivial, the holidays have truly an impact on the economy of the country. The most telling example is, of course, that in the month of may, no less than three public holidays, sometimes four (labour day, 8 may, ascension and Pentecost).
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This year, the first two of the month fall on a Wednesday (1 and 8). However, according to the Insee, it is the day of the week that weighs the most on the economy. A day off on Wednesday, can lead to two days of additional rest, thus leading to a week-two working days paid five. Add to this the Thursday, may 30, the day of the Ascension, so that the months can be finish in 15 working days, paid 23. These holidays, several institutes have attempted to quantify them. In 2014, the OFCE (French Observatory of economic conjunctures) had calculated that the cost of three bridges in succession, as here in may, could climb up to 0.19 points of GDP, or almost 4 billion euros. For four holidays in the month, as was the case in 2015, Insee was climbing up the addition to 5 billion euros, and explained this by a decrease of turnover in many sectors, generally around 2-3% with peaks up to -10%.
figures to be balanced with some positive effects
In addition, according to the government’s own figures, the abolition of a public holiday could be worth around 3.2 billion euros, or a little more than what relates to the day of solidarity each year (approximately € 2.5 billion). However, these figures are greatly softened by other areas which greatly benefit the public holidays, such as tourism and catering (about € 3 billion of positive effects). In total, according to the Insee, taking into account the place of the day in the week as well as the sectors flourishing in the period, on a holiday, therefore, would have an impact of 0.06% on the GDP. In 2016, three public holidays fell on a Sunday, which had boosted the growth of 0.11 point, says Insee. Note finally that in a period of weak economic conditions, according to the OFCE, stop working for a day would be less penalizing than in recovery periods or intense activity.
