Huh, that's simply not true. On unemplyment, you get 57% of your salary for as long as you've worked with a maximum of 2 years. You have to be actively looking for a job, including monthly meetings with the administration and the more you wait, the lower the bar becomes for the job they will force you to take.
This system is far from perfect, and this country is definitely not the best place to create a company. But let's not spread crazy rumors like this.
May have changed, the max percentage, and the rules might be getting more strict, but in the surf region of France, you might say it's a sport working around the system.
When I ask people who have lost their jobs working for Billabong, RipCurl, etc., well, what are you going to do, will you be OK? Nobody is worried in that case as it's 2 years sans travail if you're so inclined.
The system will have to change, but I doubt there will be a radical shift as the French are the striking kings -- no people resist (and succeed in so doing) change like the French; they take to the streets en masse forcing policy makers to relent. In the States we're met with water cannons.
This system is far from perfect, and this country is definitely not the best place to create a company. But let's not spread crazy rumors like this.