Elderly ignored again
The week's news at a glance.
Paris
French people stayed home in overwhelming numbers on Pentecost Monday this week, in defiance of what was supposed to be a “day of solidarity” for the elderly. The Monday after the Christian festival of Pentecost has traditionally been a national holiday in France. But this year, the government asked the French to work without pay, with employers putting the day’s wages into a fund to buy air conditioners for nursing homes. The measure was intended to prevent a catastrophe like the one that occurred in the summer of 2003, when some 15,000 elderly people, abandoned by vacationing relatives, died in a heat wave. The day of unpaid work proved unpopular, however, with more than half of all workers staying home.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The rise and rise of VTubers
Under The Radar This anime-inspired internet subculture is going global
By Abby Wilson
-
Book reviews: 'The Thinking Machine: Jensen Huang, Nvidia, and the World’s Most Coveted Microchip' and 'Who Is Government? The Untold Story of Public Service'
Feature The tech titan behind Nvidia's success and the secret stories of government workers
By The Week US
-
Mario Vargas Llosa: The novelist who lectured Latin America
Feature The Peruvian novelist wove tales of political corruption and moral compromise
By The Week US