In the midst of a bronchiolitis epidemic, hospitals are going through an unprecedented crisis due to the lack of caregivers. For neuropediatrician Mélodie Aubart, guest of franceinfo Tuesday, November 1, French nurses are poorly paid, especially compared to their European neighbors. According to her, “we are penultimate on salaries in Europe compared to the average salary.” This statement is true, but it deserves some clarification.
First, be careful: Mélodie Aubart makes it very clear, she does not compare the salary of nurses in the different European countries but the salary of nurses in relation to the average salary in their country. This ranking can be found in a study published last October by a French association, Fipeco. It is based on figures from the OECD, this organization which brings together some thirty developed countries.
In this ranking indeed, France is one of the only two countries where the salary of nurses is clearly below the average salary, 9% less exactly. According to the Ministry of Health, in 2019 it was 2,300 euros net per month. Only Switzerland does worse, with a 15% difference. In the other large European countries, on the contrary, the salary of nurses is either equal to or significantly higher than the average salary. Be careful, however: the figures on which Fipeco relies date from 2019 and 2020. Before the Ségur de la santé therefore, which allowed a salary increase of at least 290 euros net monthly for French nurses.
However, if we compare the average salary of nurses here and in other European countries, France is much lower. This is what we find in a report by the group of economists European DataLab published at the end of 2020. France is in 12th place, just above the median. At the very top of the ranking, there is Luxembourg, where nurses are paid almost two and a half times more than their French neighbors. Just behind come Belgium and Iceland.