euronews reporter - French elections: what's Y got to do with it?
euronews reporter - French elections: what's Y got to do with it?
www.euronews.com They are young, they are French and they are part of what is known as Generation Y. A generation less than 30 years old, they are said to number 13 million in France, or about one fifth of the population. They are also called digital natives - raised on the internet - they are connected, they are informed but they are also feeling increasingly sidelined by an older generation which they say does not help them when it comes to finding work, housing and overall responsibility. Ophelie Latil is 28 years old. She is about to finish a short-term work contract with little prospects of being hired full time. She also belongs to a movement called 'Generation Precaire' meaning "precarious generation". A generation she says is being increasingly sacrificed; paying not only for the economic crisis but for a retiring baby boom generation. "There's a sort of humiliation. The idea that we've studied, we've invested a lot, we've asked others to invest in us both financially and emotionally and we really believed what we were told in school or during our internships," said Ophelie. "They say 'You'll see, you will earn 40000 euros per year. A glorious future awaits you'. And it's only at the end that you realise that you're in debt, that you can't find somewhere to live, you can't find work and the only offers are internships, not even short-term contracts. The problem is that no one tells you that in France less than 10 percent of internships end up with a full work ...