why Emmanuel Macron is going to propose 65 as the starting age, and not 64

According to a newspaper report The echoes, that franceinfo was able to verify, Emmanuel Macron will propose for private sector employees, retirement at 65 years old against 62 years old today. Information confirmed by the government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal, on Thursday March 10, who announced a gradual extension of the retirement age to 65, “a minimum pension of 1,100 euros” for full careers, as well as the “removal of the main special regimes”.

This shift would not happen overnight, but gradually, over ten years, by 2032. Emmanuel Macron would return to a more classic reform: exit the pivotal age, forget the universal system for all, by points, which is looked like a gasworks. He would keep three major schemes, one for private sector employees, one for the self-employed, and one for civil servants and would classically shift the legal age of departure.

The pandemic has degraded the accounts and with more than 17 million retirees, the pension system is in deficit: there is a shortage of ten billion euros per year in the funds until 2030, according to the pensions orientation council (Horn). Hence the need to find room for manoeuvre. However, according to the Cor, shifting the age by two years is barely enough to balance the accounts. Going a notch higher – to 65 – would make it possible to maintain the level of pensions for retirees but also to finance counterparties, while the war in Ukraine will slow down growth and promises to further increase public spending.