Down, Not Out, in Paris as Crisis Whittles Away Welfare State
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The 375-year-old state-owned pawnbroker on Rue des Francs-Bourgeois in Paris’s central Marais district has rarely done brisker business.
On a crisp, cold day last month, Inaya, an unemployed former Ikea manager, waited with about 100 people in a large, dingy hall at Credit Municipal de Paris to pawn a Gucci bag and some jewelry. Out of work for two years, Inaya, 35, sporting a tweed jacket and dark pants, was tapping the broker for cash for the first time as her unemployment benefits dwindled.