France with 31 pct spending tops in public welfare, followed with US: OECD

While France's attachment to welfare spending is no secret, the United States is not far behind when taking into account private money as well, data from the OECD showed on Wednesday. At 31 per cent of national income, France spent the most taxpayer money last year on things like pensions, healthcare and unemployment benefits, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said. France's welfare spending was well above the OECD average of 20 per cent, and contrasted starkly with Mexico, at the other end of the spectrum with only 7.5 per cent.

In countries like the United States, the Netherlands and Switzerland, the private sector plays a big role in providing social benefits and services like pensions or health insurance. When taking public and private funding together, France's remains the biggest spender. However, the United States is in second place with total social spending at 30 per cent of national income, compared with 19 per cent when looking only at public spending. Though France's welfare largesse helps keep inequality below the OECD average, its "yellow vest" protests have exposed a deep-rooted belief the system nonetheless is not working for large swathes of the population.

(With inputs from agencies.)