French critics on the economic record of the President of the Republic.
More than one in two French people (56%) believe that their purchasing power has rather decreased during the five-year term of Emmanuel Macron, according to an OpinionWay-Square poll for
Les Échos
and Radio Classique, published on Monday.
They are only 8% to have the impression that their purchasing power has on the contrary increased since 2017, when 35% affirm that it has remained stable.
The feelings of the French are therefore out of step with economic indicators: according to INSEE figures, the purchasing power of the French has only increased over the past five years (+ 0.6% in 2020, after + 2.1% in 2019, + 1.3% in 2018 and + 1.7% in 2017).
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Respondents belonging to higher socio-professional categories are slightly more likely to say that their purchasing power has increased (14%), as are young people (12% among 18-24 year olds and 13% among 25-34 year olds). ). Conversely, the feeling of loss of purchasing power is stronger among supporters of the National Rally (69%) and rebellious France (62%).
Logically, a majority of those questioned (58%) therefore consider the economic action of Emmanuel Macron to be negative since his election in 2017. Four in ten (40%) consider it positive, of which only 7% “
very positive
”.
Here too, the answers diverge depending on the social class to which the respondents belong: 67% of CSPs are critical of the economic record of the Head of State, i.e. 12 points more than the figure he collects among CSP + (55%).
Some acclaimed measures
"
On economic subjects, the image of Emmanuel Macron as 'president of the rich' seems to be always shared by part of the population
", notes OpinionWay in its study. One in two French people (50%) consider that their economic measures have had a positive impact on the wealthy categories, while the opposite sentiment dominates when referring to the middle (64%) and popular (56%) categories. .
However, this study also shows that the French are not close to a paradox. If they are hard on the global action of Emmanuel Macron, they welcome certain flagship economic measures of the five-year term. This is the case, for example, with economic aid to businesses during the Covid-19 crisis (87% favorably consider this measure), the abolition of the housing tax (80%), the withholding tax on the income tax (80%) and, to a lesser extent, unemployment insurance reform (58%). On the other hand, the abolition of the wealth tax (ISF), replaced by a tax on real estate wealth (IFI) in 2018, still arouses as much disapproval: 68% of respondents believe that it is a bad thing.
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If a majority of French people are dissatisfied with the economic record of Emmanuel Macron, few French believe that the candidates declared in the presidential election of 2022 would be able to do better
", also notes OpinionWay.
Indeed, only 19% of those questioned believe that Marine Le Pen would do better.
Either the highest figure among the candidates tested.
If Xavier Bertrand and Valérie Pécresse do less well than the president of the RN, they are the two personalities who gather the least negative opinions: 25% and 28% of those polled think that he and she would do less well than Emmanuel Macron, against 47% for Marine Le Pen.
OpinionWay-Square survey for Les Échos and Radio Classique, conducted with a sample of 1,004 people, representative of the French population aged 18 and over, carried out by self-administered online questionnaire from September 15 to 16, 2021.