The French pension system is too difficult to read, say experts

Too fragmented and too difficult to read. The current uncertainties about the real effects of the pension reform confirm the limits of the French pension system, believe the experts of the pension monitoring committee (CSR) on Thursday 13 July. This small team of statisticians and economists, placed under the Prime Minister, is responsible for assessing whether the pension system is in line with its main objectives: fair treatment of insured persons, solidarity between generations and financial sustainability.

“This year’s experience has reinforced the feeling that we are reaching the end of what parametric approaches can do (just changing settings such as the legal retirement age or the contribution period) in a system that also remains fragmented and unreadable”underlines the 2023 report of the monitoring committee, made public on Thursday (PDF document).

“The first effect of this complexity is to make it difficult to share the observation on the real situation” of the pension system, as shown by the differences of opinion between the pension steering committee and the government on the levels of deficit expected after the reform, according to the report. Similarly, the costing of the measures taken and the evaluation of “their true impact” East “difficult”say CSR experts.