Saturday, September 18, 2010
France Moves to Raise Minimun Age of Retirement
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was able to pass a vote in the lower-house of the French government to increase the age of retirement in France to 62. The previous age of retirement in France was 60 and one of the lowest ages of retirement in Europe. This increase in retirement age may seem very small for most countries. Retirement age in the US is 65 and Britain and Portugal have committed to moving retirement to 68. However, France has reacted less than favorably to the changes. Sarkozy's approval rating are at a record low and there have already been strikes of discontent from the French people last week. Another strike is scheduled for September 23. The retirement age will reach 62 by 2018 increasing by 4 months a year. Sarkozy offered commission for people with grueling jobs or who began working at a younger age. The move to 62 will begin to save the pension system with people living longer and baby-boomers beginning to retire. "It's about preserving the pension system for out children." says Jean-Francois Cope, leader of the National Assembly.
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6 comments:
while it seems that the French are overreacting about the change in retirement age, it is obviously a necessary step for the French economy. As the article mentions, the retirement age hasn't been changed since 1983 while the population has been aging and the pension deficits have grown. It is important for the French economy to pass this legislature in order to sustain the economy.
I agree whole heartily with President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to raise the retirement rate. Social security in the U.S. will undoubtedly run out if the retirement age is not raised. It will be interesting to see if this will happen before the baby boomer constituency looses its influence, by at which time it will be too late.
This will likely play a large role in the upcoming French elections. It may eventually prove politically infeasible and potentially even political suicide for Sarkosky's party to have proposed this policy. Necessary economic actions are often prevented by political pressures, leading to the concept of public failure rather than market failure.
I think the U.S. should raise our retirement age in order to be fiscally responsible since social security is a huge contributor to our national debt. I looked up when the last time our retirement age was raised. It turns out that it is already being gradually raised so that those who were born in 1960 or later will retire at the age of 67.
I can understand why the people of France would be upset with this law if it were to pass. 60 is still young though and it would help the economy if it were raised to 62. They are just hurting the younger people society by retiring at such a young age. There pension system will start to suffer if this law is not passed because of all the people starting to retire. This would be smart for the government of France to pass.
I agree. I think the French are over-reacting and even being selfish. They need to think about their kids and grandchildren. Preserving the pension system will benefit their kids and their kids, kids. With the growing pension deficit, it is likely that the pension will altogether collapse, like is likely to happen in America by the time we are at or a little over retirement age.
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