The New Yorker: The Talk of the Town – Is the 35-hour French work week to blame for the 2005 riots? “There are many explanations for the estimated forty-per-cent unemployment rate in the banlieues that have been the site of recent riots, but part of the problem is that voluntary leisure for some Europeans has helped lead to involuntary leisure for others. The less work that gets done, the less work there is to do.”