The explosion of discontent that led to major protests and violence in France and across Europe is a “warning signal” that Australia could follow the same path without an “honest conversation” about the budget, economists say.

Hundreds of thousands marched in cities across France on Saturday to protest against school underfunding, as complaints of insufficient teacher numbers and dilapidated infrastructure mingled with broader discontent about cost-of-living pressures.

Here, and across the developed world, people are struggling to cope with the affordability crisis as households grapple with high and rising prices.

The scale of the challenges in individual countries may be of a different order of magnitude but the grievances are common.

Luke Hartigan, a senior economics lecturer at the University of Sydney, said it was clear there was no single factor behind the discontent in France but soaring energy costs were having a major impact.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter…