What bothers the French is the new retirement age, which will still be among the lowest in the industrialized world.
A general strike in France against raising the retirement age brought more than a million people onto the streets on Thursday before ending in violent clashes with police in Paris and other cities.
The protest followed a strike of similar size in January and days of small marches and demonstrations in between. More large-scale measures are planned for the next week.
What bothers the French is the new retirement age, which will still be among the lowest in the industrialized world.
Under a new law passed by Parliament without a vote last week, the retirement age for most French workers will be raised from 62 to 64.
This will keep France below the norm in Europe and many other advanced economies, where the full retirement age is 65 and close to 67.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, the retirement age is between 66 and 67, depending on the year you were born. Current legislation provides for a further increase from 67 to 68 in Great Britain between 2044 and 2046 (although the timing of this increase is under review and may change). In Portugal, it is 66 years and four months old.
State pensions in France are also more generous than in other countries. At nearly 14% of GDP in 2018, the country’s spending on state pensions is higher than in most other countries, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The French government has defended the pension reform – which includes other changes – as necessary to keep the pension system funded. Existing taxes on workers pay the benefits of retirees, and as people live longer and more Baby Boomers retire, the system is at risk of bankruptcy.
Funding of pension systems is a concern in many advanced economies.
“Government agencies are projecting huge deficits in the coming years as boomers continue to retire, and they need to make changes very quickly — otherwise they will lose money to invest in other things,” said Renaud Foccart, senior lecturer in economics at Lancaster University. in England to CNN in January when the French plan was proposed.
For Foccart, pension reform is a “taboo” in France.
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