A central principle of western Europe's post-war welfare system comes up for debate in the French parliament this week, reports the BBC.
Its technical name is universality. In practice it means everyone getting the same state benefits.
Now for the first time in 70 years this founding idea is in jeopardy in France.
The Socialist government, which one might expect to be firmly wedded to "universality", has decided it is a luxury France can no longer afford.
In its social security bill for 2015, it proposes that child benefits no longer be paid out in equal measure to everyone.
Instead the better-off will see their allowances cut, in some cases by as much as three-quarters.
Child allowances are generous in France. A family with three children receives nearly 300 euros every month.
The historic aim was to encourage child-bearing and build up the nation. It was a goal on which both right and left could agree and politics was left out of the debate.
Now, though, the Socialists find themselves under attack from both sides - from the right for undermining family policy, from the left for tinkering with the "etat providence" or welfare state.
Relatively high-earners like environmental consultant Benoit Prunel, who has four young children, stand to lose most from the changes. But for him, money is not the real issue.