France Making Changes to its Retirement Age
Via the BBC: French raise retirement age to 62:
France’s retirement age will be raised from 60 to 62 over the next eight years as part of sweeping pension reforms, the government has announced.
[…]
As well as raising the retirement age to 62, the planned reforms will also require employees to work for a minimum of 41.5 years to qualify, and there will be higher taxes on the better paid.
Those who began working before the age of 18 would continue to retire at 60, however, and those with particularly “arduous” jobs may also be able to retire earlier.
Interesting, insofar as I was unaware that the retirement age in France was that low. Further, my initial reaction is that a two year-shift to 62 is not that unreasonable a reform. On the other hand, if workers were expecting a specific number the reaction is not that surprising insofar as they will see it simply as a reduction in promised benefits. There have been anti-reform rallies: “Last month, widespread strike action in protest at the plans drew tens of thousands of workers to demonstrations in Paris.”
Despite the protests that have emerged over this issue, “recent opinion polls had shown a majority of the French public were in favour of raising the retirement age.”
Some comparative numbers from the piece:
- France – 62
- UK – 65 for men, 60 for women
- Germany – 65
- Spain – 65, though retirement at 60 is also common
- Netherlands – 65
- Italy – 65 for men, 60 for women, though earlier retirement is common
- Greece – 65 for men, 62 for women, though earlier retirement is common
- Sweden – 61
The US number has been 65, but it is slowly been moving to 67. Of course, the numbers in question have to do with when a person is eligible for government-delivered retirement benefits.
Such situations are interesting if anything because it gives us some insight into how these things are done elsewhere and also how other countries are responding to the current fiscal pressures being placed on them.
and those with particularly “arduous” jobs may also be able to retire earlier.
There’s a drum that’s Joyner’s been beating for awhile. Yeah, we should also increase the retirement age for many, but not all. And perhaps it should be related to life expectancy, say 80-85% of it (which can probably be calculated based on your main occupation).
“Such situations are interesting if anything because it gives us some insight into how these things are done elsewhere and also how other countries are responding to the current fiscal pressures being placed on them.”
Yes, and it’s also interesting that in this case, “higher taxes for the better paid” is part of the plan. In the US, that idea would be called “punishing the successful” and would be laughed off the table in the first meeting.
Herb — The idea that levying higher taxes on the wealthy is “punishing the successful” exists in this country because the super-rich have poured tons of money into spreading it, just as the broad distaste for taxes on multi-million dollar estates has risen because the Waltons have spent millions to convince people.
You may also be interested in this NYT article regarding the challenges Europe faces in resetting the public’s expectations regarding retirement and benefits: http://nyti.ms/cNXwvM
Money fact: Only 50% of French workers work past 50 years of age.