Annoying the French is a new retirement age that is still one of the youngest in the industrialized world.
A nationwide strike in France against the retirement age drew more than a million people into the streets on Thursday and ended in violent clashes with police in Paris and other cities.
The strike followed a similar strike and smaller walkouts and demonstrations in January. More large-scale activities are planned for next week.
Annoying the French is a new retirement age that is still one of the youngest in the industrialized world.
Under the new law, passed by parliament without a referendum last week, the retirement age for most French workers will be raised from 62 to 64.
That puts France below the norm in Europe and many developed economies, where full retirement ages are approaching 65 and 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 subject to review and change). In Portugal, it is 66 years and four months.
State pensions in France are more generous than in other countries. At nearly 14% of GDP in 2018, the country’s spending on state pensions is higher than 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 maintain the pension system’s finances. Current taxes on workers pay for retirees’ benefits, and as people live longer and more baby boomers retire, the system is at risk of bankruptcy.
Financing pension systems is a concern in many developed economies.
Renaud Foucault, a senior lecturer in economics at Lancaster University, told CNN in January when the French plan was proposed in the UK that “government agencies are predicting 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.”
According to Foucault, pension reform is seen as “blocked” in France.
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