Well, young people in France, as the few I know tell me, cannot even afford to rent an apartment without a parent or someone guaranteeing it. Getting a job is hard enough.
Now, say what you would a out the 'wasteful' labor, your average joe not too bright is still working at maccas. Probably not as happy as he used to, but he's not quite lost a job. People are still drinking piss and driving holdens/fords and whatever else.
For a country that has been dependant on its mining income and lost a lot of industry that could keep masses employed in the industrial sector we have done rather well. If we're in debt, that kind of means someone deems our economy capable of repaying.