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France has been hit by country-wide protests over President Macron’s pension reforms that would simplify the system and increase the minimum pension age from 62 to 64. In this video, we’ll take a closer look at these reforms and try to figure out whether Macron is right that the current system is simply unaffordable.
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Does France’s Pension System Actually Need Reform?
France has long been known for its comprehensive and generous social welfare system, including its pension system. However, in recent years, concerns have been raised about the sustainability and affordability of the French pension system. As the country’s population ages and life expectancy increases, the need for reform becomes increasingly evident.
One of the primary reasons cited for the need to reform France’s pension system is the rapidly aging population. Like many other developed countries, France is facing a demographic shift, with a decreasing birth rate and an increasing life expectancy. This means that there will be fewer active workers contributing to the pension system while the number of retirees relying on it will continue to rise. This demographic trend creates a significant financial strain on the pension system, making it necessary to reassess the current system’s sustainability.
Another factor that calls for pension reform in France is the increasing life expectancy. Although longer life expectancy is undoubtedly a positive development, it also poses challenges for pension systems. The longer people live, the more likely they are to collect pension benefits for an extended period, which increases the financial burden on the system. By adapting the pension system to account for longer life expectancy, the French government can ensure its long-term viability.
Parallel to the demographic challenges, France also faces economic pressure. As the country continues to recover from the economic downturn and grapples with high unemployment rates, the current pension system becomes increasingly unaffordable. It is crucial to develop a sustainable system that focuses on economic realities, ensuring that pensions are balanced with the available resources to fund them.
Critics argue that France’s pension system is too generous compared to other European countries. The benefits provided are among the highest in Europe, with some retirees receiving up to 75% of their final salary. While this has been a significant contributor to France’s high quality of life, it also raises questions about its long-term viability. Adjusting the level of benefits to align more closely with those in neighboring countries could alleviate some of the financial pressure on the pension system.
The current French pension system also exhibits significant disparities across different professions and sectors. Some employees, such as public servants or workers in certain industries, enjoy more advantageous conditions, including earlier retirement ages and higher benefits. This unequal treatment is seen as both unfair and economically unsustainable. Any reform effort should aim to address these disparities and create a more equitable and unified pension system.
Reforming France’s pension system is a complex and politically sensitive task. The government must strike a delicate balance between meeting the needs of retirees, ensuring long-term financial stability, and managing public sentiment. However, the challenges presented by an aging population, longer life expectancy, economic pressures, and inequalities suggest that reform is indeed necessary.
Several European countries have already undergone pension reforms successfully, offering potential models for France to consider. For instance, Sweden implemented a system that combines a pay-as-you-go system with individual retirement accounts, which has resulted in increased flexibility and sustainability. Similarly, Germany increased the retirement age gradually to reflect demographic changes, ensuring its pension system’s long-term viability.
In conclusion, France’s pension system does need reform to adapt to the evolving demographics and economic realities facing the country. If properly designed and implemented, pension reforms can ensure the system’s sustainability while guaranteeing fair and adequate benefits for retirees. As France grapples with these challenges, it is essential to strike a balance that considers both the needs of individuals and the collective responsibility of funding retirement incomes.
I reckon those fiery infernos are more accurately described as "riots". Lets not sugar coat them with the word "Protest"
Ditch France, come to America.
Starting early is the best way of getting ahead to build wealth, investing remains a priority. Even in a downtrend, the stock market/crypto has plenty of opportunities to earn a decent payout, with the right skills and proper understanding of how the market works.
Yeah just like i need my gas at 4 bucks +
So the argument against Macron is “oh we had this idea in our heads that we didn’t have to work”. For fuck sake.
Well, for the billionaires there is always more money to be handed out; but not for workers and pensioners. Balancing the books is always done by cutting in workers and pensioners, not in taxing correctly. Pls. do not perpetuate this fallacy of balancing the books: a country is not a company.
They're dreaming, and already have high taxation on business.
No just like all governments today take from the poor and leave the rich alone to make more money for themselves.
Thank you for the video. It is refreshing to hear all the facts, so I can make a good judgement of the French protester. Prior to this, it came across as though they just weren’t happy to work any extra two years.
pension is ponzi scheme. lol
as an American my sympathy for the French here is pretty low for a few reasons
1 they still have colonies who help pay their bills and no one will help them retire
2 Most of the world lacks both healthcare and a pension system let alone high quality either
3 really really strong labor protections create unemployment and drive down productivity, most of the world has too few labor protections but France is a rare exception where they protect workers so much they stifle businesses lowering the income they have to work with
4 Macron is simply right that something has to change because cleaver money tricks and economies of scale can't get over the fundamental issue that the ratio of people doing work to people consuming value is dropping. however, doing so in an undemocratic way is not something ill try to argue as good
if you can't make it work at only 65 million people, you are in some serious problems when you get to 350 million people.
As far as Macron is concerned, a simple act of raising the tax rate of his corporate buddies is not a preferred method for fixing its national 'expensive' pension fund system, digging his way into retiree's golden fund on benefit collection date is a less stressful political play for him.
The point is NOT if Macron is wrong or right.
Point is Macron is no King, he is only a President.
I really hope he will never been elected again, because after certain behaviours he has to pay.
I saw a saying on the Chinese internet; Is it true that most of France's fiscal revenue is repaying US debt. Or is it a form of anti American propaganda?
Frenchman here, thanks as usual for your detailed and balanced coverage of what many international media outlets have massively oversimplified.
You didn't treat the fact that lower income tend to die before 62yo defacto making retirement a class privilege
Another issue that was not mentioned is just how raising the retirement age is a reform that was proven to not work in France previously. The age was raised several times in the past decade. In fact, it was 60 years a bit over 10 years ago. Every increase is said to be to fix the deficit, but none ever fixed it. It's trying to fight the effects (the deficit) by only moving one of the two causes (the number of retirees and their pensions). 50% of your highest paid years means that low-wage workers might not be able to afford life with their pension (some are never able to buy a house in their life, and the renting life or paying a mortgage is already too expensive for them) while high-wave workers who gained a lot of money in their life not only still get a pension that would be considered good for most but also had the opportunity to save earlier in their life, get a private pension, get a company pension, and getting passive revenues on their assets on top of that. There is a cap on the base pension, but the number of exceptions makes it easy for someone well-prepared to earn way more from that single source.
I would know, my grandparents were on either side, with one not earning enough to live and the other earning more than I'll probably be paid at the end of my career.
Borrowing the video headlines phrasing :
Was this video unbiased ?
Well…not as much as it initialy seemed.
Major variables in this balance equation have NOT been covered in this review:
-Residual unemployement rate
-Senior ununemployement rate
Once those are factored in – surprisingly – it changes Macron's "generous plan" into yet another way to weaken social wellfare and incentivise cheap labour market:
Working class pensioners are in their vast majority garranted never to hit a full state pension as the employement market is structurally designed for them not to.
That is to say, Macron is destroying our pension system by actively contributing to its inadequacy throught the aforementioned reform.
And this prepare liberals next step as this recipy for failure fuels the rethoric for future cuts as this reform is designed NOT to solve anything.
See ? not as complicated as it seems finally.
Ways to garanty current pension financing is easy as pie: just pick one below and you solve that FICTIONAL crisis.
1/ Pay women just as much as men at the same level of qualification and TADAAA !!!
Current salary gap in France sits between 15 and 20% less pay for women compare to men.
Even the scale and every single employee in France would be able to retire at 60, it could finance even earlier retirements.
2/ Reduce the legal duration of a working hours during the week down to 32H ….ET VOILA !!!
No more "structural unemployement".
More fonds will be injected into the pension system by new arrival on the labour market.
(economy boost is a cherry on top, you are welcome).
3/ Give back a social security management that was STOLEN from private workers hands by the french government in the lat 50's.
It was way more efficiently run, but while doing so, the government could not cook the ledger and tap into wellfare fonds at his own discretion back then (using it to plug hospitals building plans, fixing extra fees to private health practitioners, and last but not least let big pharma corporations plunder this treasure through drugs reimbursement rate negociated with governements).
Social security weights WAY more than the state budget. The feodal minds in charge COULD NOT STAND that a nationwide workers association manage privately their own solidarity founds, a MUCH bigger budget than the governement MUCH better run than politicians would, that is to say run at a profit.
Is it ironical that the very same governments have no issue whatsover to give away that privilege to privately held insurance companies….
FUN FACT: Previous retirement reform in France pushed minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 years it was initiated by president Sarkozy.
Of course, the first beneficiaries of such a reform were private pensions insurance. It happens that Sarkozy's brother was at the helm of one of the biggest private retirement insurrance called Malakoff-Mederic (a happy coincidence no doubt).
4/Shall I suggest taxing speculation,
Erode patrimonial wealth through gradual and coercitive taxation of high level savings,
Set a maximun payment gap within companies so no salary could exceed 5 times the lowest employee income..
I suspect some of you may already faint at the prospect.
Instead of that, I guess there is no better way to prove that the wellfare state is not working than to throroughly sabotage it yourself isn't it ?
Macron…program is generous ? What a joke, have a shred of decency and acquaint yourself with his program.
He is backward liberal zombie straight out from the 80's.
But my dear Liberals ! Don't you see ?
Anger is rising, and you can no longer pretend you haven't had it coming.
France has a revolutionary legacy its working class is very proud of, and Macron is playing a very stupid daring game here.
The EU economy is falling apart. People get older and pension funds weaker. Worldwide de-dollarization and de-euroization have started. In light of that, it's interesting to read in the news that Spain has been playing with a 4 day workweek. It's like people got stuck in their wet fantasies and do not realize that they will be struggling for food just in 10-20 years, not looking for a work-life balance.
Yeah, you can raise taxes for multinational corporations, but why do you think multinational corporations need your country? I have worked in a few in the last 10 years and all of them refused to create any new jobs in France because of their taxes, social security and other communist stuff.
Lower your taxes, reduce your government and social benefits, open your borders to people who work, not just enjoy social benefits. Or you are fu**ed in the long run.
The problem is never those who follow the system, its those that don't. There will be minimums for everyone who get FAR MORE than they put in. That's why the math never works out.
Taxes the rich only means high cost of living of goods and services and that will hurt the poor more
Pension balance is actually exedentary so financial arguments has no value.
Too many muslims and people whom not contribute to the system… all the rageous people angry against wealthiest, but should look at them before trying to change all the world from burning bin in France.
You forgot to mention that france debt to gdp is almost 100%.