France, Brazil, Japan: Highlighting Issues in Three Countries

As of the 5th, an estimated 500 high schools are expected to be fully or partially closed, and 5,000 young people have been arrested across France due to protests that began last week.

As of Monday, the 5th, an estimated 500 high schools in France are expected to be fully or partially closed, indicating the significant scale of the protests.

Students are demanding solutions to overcrowded classes of more than 35 students and the shortage of teachers, expressing particular dissatisfaction with the inadequate supply of substitute teachers.

Deteriorating school facilities and long school hours, from 8 AM to 6 PM, are also major issues demanding improvement.

Poor air conditioning and insulation in schools during summer heatwaves have been pointed out as factors further increasing student dissatisfaction.

Furthermore, the government's policy to freeze basic public servant salaries until 2027 is exacerbating opposition from the education sector.

Teachers, already suffering from staff shortages and poor working conditions, are strongly opposing the government's potential wage freeze.

Public sector workers, including firefighters, have also joined the protests against the government's austerity measures, uniting the grievances of students, teachers, and public sector workers.

Protesters, with their faces covered, have exhibited violent behavior, throwing bottles and paving stones at police, and setting fire to trash cans and school facilities.

Police responded with tear gas, batons, and pepper spray, leading to controversy over excessive force after a 14-year-old student claimed facial injuries from a police-fired tear gas canister, resulting in a lawsuit.

The French government claims that the radical left-wing party 'France Unbowed' incited the protests, shifting the blame.

In contrast, the opposition has criticized the government's hardline crackdown, stating their support for non-violent protests, and education issues are emerging as a major variable in next year's French presidential election.

France's budget deficit is projected to reach 5.8% of GDP in 2024, exceeding the EU's 3% criterion. Last year it also exceeded 5%, and a similar figure is expected this year, raising concerns about fiscal soundness.

As a result, France has been designated by the EU as subject to an 'excessive deficit procedure,' and interest expenditures, expected to surge from 60.6 billion euros this year to 91.2 billion euros next year, make government austerity measures unavoidable.

Bolsonaro garnered 47% and Lula 44% of the votes, sending the top two candidates to a runoff on the 25th. This election, where Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son, Flávio Bolsonaro, ran as a presidential candidate, was subject to a runoff system due to no candidate receiving a majority in the first round. Jair Bolsonaro's eldest son, Flávio, and candidate Lula advanced to the runoff with 47% and 44% of the votes, respectively.

This election draws attention as Flávio Bolsonaro, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, is running as a presidential candidate.

Jair Bolsonaro's wife, eldest son, second son, brother, and fourth son, among other relatives, participated extensively in the election, with the German weekly Stern calling it more unusual than the Trump family's political involvement.

The open-list proportional representation system encourages competition based on individual recognition, and former President Jair Bolsonaro has built a strong right-wing brand called 'Bolsonarismo' to expand his family's political influence.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced to 27 years and 3 months in prison for plotting a coup, preventing his direct participation in this presidential election.

This election is a contest between two candidates with starkly contrasting political backgrounds: on one side, Lula, a poor former laborer representing Brazil's left, and on the other, Flávio Bolsonaro, the son who inherited the vast right-wing support base his father built.

This election is more than just a vote; it will be a crucial stage to test how voters in Brazil evaluate the family succession of a political brand.

The Brazilian prosecutor's office requested a police investigation to confirm whether these funds were actually provided and their influence on the election.

According to a report by The Guardian, allegations of aid to Brazilian civic groups during the Trump administration have been raised, and the actual provision of funds and their electoral impact will be the core of the investigation.

Specifically, if annual income exceeds 1.3 million yen (approximately 11.1 million won), eligibility for social insurance dependent status is lost, causing many part-time workers to adjust their working hours to keep their income below 1.3 million yen.

From April to June this year, 4.08 million part-time workers reduced their working hours due to awareness of the annual income ceiling, exacerbating labor shortages in service industries and supermarkets. Although the government increased the hourly minimum wage by 56 yen (approximately 478 won), the total labor supply decreased by 2% due to reduced working hours.

From April to June this year, 4.08 million people reduced their working hours due to the 'wall of annual income,' leading to severe labor shortages in industries heavily reliant on part-time workers, such as service industries and supermarkets.

Although the government aimed to increase household income and expand labor supply by raising the minimum wage, the unintended side effect was workers reducing their labor to avoid social insurance premiums.

FamilyMart launched a recruitment advertisement featuring global pop star Lady Gaga. This marks the first time a celebrity model has been used for recruitment advertising in the Japanese convenience store industry.

This advertisement was produced for employee recruitment, not product promotion. The Japanese convenience store industry opted for this unconventional star marketing to alleviate severe labor shortages.

The complex connections intertwined with the social insurance dependent system act as a hurdle to reform, leaving the '1.3 million yen wall' and '20-hour-per-week wall' unresolved.

This shows that fundamental reform is difficult due to its complex ties with the social insurance dependent system, and it is pointed out that partial improvements alone have limitations in solving the current problem.

Overseas examples, such as the UK's 'Universal Credit,' eliminate the structure where burdens sharply increase beyond a certain income, gradually reducing benefits based on income as insurance burdens also progressively increase with income.

The current system allows the spouse of an employee to receive benefits without paying premiums if their income is below a certain level. Fundamentally revising this system could impose new burdens on those who previously did not pay premiums, making it a politically very sensitive issue.