Every afternoon, Granddaughter Number One gets an afternoon snack in playschool called le goûter: it’s a fresh, buttered baguette with a few squares of dark chocolate in the middle.
That’s not all she gets. Lunch in l’école maternelle usually consists of four courses, including fruit and cheese; and they let them take their time eating it. Lunchtime lasts from noon until 2pm, after which, understandably, they have a nice nap.
Apart from all the toddlers, it sounds like a really nice hotel; the sort you’d pay through the nose for in this country. Childcare isn’t exactly cheap here either.
Attendance at playschool in France is mandatory. It’s also free.
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In terms of GDP per capita, Ireland is the third-richest country in Europe. France isn’t even in the top 10.
[ School meals: How do French and Irish food for pupils compare?Opens in new window ]
What is now the French branch of the family have just been back for a visit, their first since moving there during the summer. They are still working some things out, like where to live, long-term. Becoming more fluent in the language. How to buy a house. Social insurance numbers. What was an almost speculative move six months ago has now hardened into something far more definite. They don’t plan to come back any time soon, and their fortnight here only bolstered that decision. They said it was nice to be here, to see family and friends. But they also found Ireland a little depressing.
Part of it was to do with factors outside Ireland’s control: where they live, it will be about 20 degrees on Christmas Day. It’s also quite rural. There are no traffic jams. They live beside a vineyard. Their town has a population of fewer than 2,000 people.
But, unlike in Ireland, living in a small town in France doesn’t seem so beset with the problems of being far from all the money and power. They don’t feel like they are living in the middle of nowhere, because none of the other residents seem to feel that way: there is a palpable sense that they have a quality of life, and that this is a precious thing.
Part of what they found depressing in Ireland was speaking to their peers, and the sense of constant struggle: the crippling cost of childcare, the need to move miles away from work, just to be able to afford a place to live. Working, but still needing Housing Assistance Payments.
In Ireland we tend to view these issues in financial terms: they can be mitigated, if not solved, with tax breaks and social welfare payments. When government politicians defend their position, they reel off statistics. They rarely give concrete examples of how the lives of citizens have been made better.
Elsewhere it seems to be more about values, about what is fundamentally important to each society. France is far from perfect. In many respects, it’s a bit of a mess. Yet there, and many other European countries, giving all children access to free education and good food (for example) is seen as a basic right; something by necessity the state should provide. And values are not the same as ideology: parties of all political hues tend to agree on this.
A lot of these countries have been around for longer than this State, so perhaps they’ve had more time to decide what is most important. Perhaps we are still figuring out what is most important to us.
It’s a bit like if you won the lottery. What would you do with the money? Pay off your debts, of course. But after that, would you share any of it with friends or family who might need a dig-out? Would you give any of it to charity? Or would you just keep it all for yourself? Those decisions would reveal something about you. And by the same token, how the governments we elect spend the tax revenue we give them reveals something about us.
