Protests and strikes that have disrupted France for weeks have grown more intense after the government yesterday decided to force through a controversial reform raising the minimum standard retirement age from 62 to 64. The change has been in the making for years and has been postponed time and time again following fierce opposition among the population – for example in the form of the country’s longest-ever transport strike in early 2020.
French President Emmanuel Macron will evoke special constitutional powers to pass the law that the French Senate on Thursday signed off on, but that was expected to hit a roadblock in the lower house. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who announced the plan, called the reform necessary to prevent a major deficit in the pension system. Like many aging societies in Europe, France is looking to support a growing share of retirees among its population, but unlike many of its neighbors has not raised the retirement age so far.
The change is scheduled to be finalized by 2030. Likewise, other developed countries around the world have been in the process of raising the retirement age of their public pensions, but most have gotten a lot further than France will have come in this decade.
France Enjoys Comparably Low Retirement Age
Protests and strikes that have disrupted France for weeks have grown more intense after the government yesterday decided to force through a controversial reform raising the minimum standard retirement age from 62 to 64.