we simulate consequences for 11 profiles
If the pension reform plans to keep French people working longer hours, not everyone will be affected in the same way.
The postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64, the increase in the contribution period faster than expected through the accelerated Touraine reforms… Not surprisingly, the pension reforms unveiled by the government last week are still far from being approved by the French Council. According to Elabe’s latest poll for BFMTV, 66% of them are against the executive project.
For the most part, France has resisted any action aimed at keeping them working longer hours. This is the goal of reform. Although not everyone will be affected in the same way. To see this more clearly, we simulated the effects of reform* on the careers of eleven fictitious profiles with very different characteristics.
• Véronique, born in 1966, started working at the age of 23
Under current rules, Véronique would be able to retire as early as age 62, at a discount. To earn full retirement, he must validate 169 quarters, which translates to working 42 years one quarter, or up to 65 years and three months.
With the reforms, Véronique would not be able to leave before 63 years and six months, like everyone from the 1966 generation, with exceptions. The accelerated increase in contribution terms will also force him to pay an additional three quarters, that is, over 43 years, if he is to avoid deducting his basic pension. Therefore, Véronique must work until the age of 66 to benefit from full retirement.
> Without the reforms, Véronique could retire at full rates at the age of 65 years and 3 months. With the reform, he had to work 9 months longer.
• Julien, born in 1990, started working at the age of 21
Under the current system, Julien will be able to retire at the age of 62. Instead, the postponement of the legal age provided for by the reform would oblige him to work until the age of 64, like everyone born in 1968, except in special cases.
On the other hand, Julien has no problem with the acceleration of Touraine’s reforms. All workers born from 1973 must have paid 172 quarters (43 years) to get full pension. In other words, Julien will get his full salary at the age of 64, whether reforms are passed or not.
> Julien will leave at full rates at the age of 64.
• Stephane, born in 1960, started working at the age of 25
The first people affected by the reform were those born from September 1961, nothing has changed for Stéphane. He can still drop out at age 62 and benefit from full basic retirement if he validates 167 quarters (41 years and three quarters), or at 66 years and 9 months if there are no interruptions in his career. .
> However, Stephane will not retire at full rates before 66 years and 9 months
• Noémie, born in 1970, started working at the age of 21, has contributed to Smic throughout his career
Under the current system, Noémie has the option of leaving at 62 or at 63 and nine months to receive full retirement.
With the reforms, Noémie had to wait until he was 64 to retire. He will also have to contribute another quarter, namely at age 43, which will also allow him to attain full retirement at age 64.
With a full career at Smic, Noémie will also see an increase in his pension as he will benefit from a minimum pension revaluation of up to 85% of Smic’s net, or around 1,200 euros gross per month.
> With the reform, Noémie had to work an additional 3 months to earn a full pension.
• Noah, born in 1981, started apprenticeship when he was 15 years and 9 months old
Having contributed 5 quarters before the end of his 16 years of life, Noah is one to qualify for the long career scheme. Today, he can expect to retire at age 60 if he has validated his 172 quarters. Granted, it doesn’t start early enough to be able to drop out at age 58 or 59 (45 years contribution required).
With the reforms, Noah would be able to get out a bit earlier. The government plan stipulates that people who work before the age of 16 are entitled to retire from the age of 58, provided they have paid the required insurance contributions plus one year instead of the current two years, which is 44 years instead of 45 years. Therefore, Noah can look forward to retiring at the age of 59 years and nine months.
> With the reform, Noah will be able to retire 3 months early
• Julia, born in 1985, started working at the age of 17
Julia validated 5 quarters before the end of her 18 years. Under current rules, he can leave early at the age of 60 provided he has contributed 43 years, under the long career scheme.
With these reforms, Julia had to wait until she was 61 years old before retiring. The government’s draft actually stipulated that people who started work before the age of 18 could always leave at the age of 60, but “subject to the required contribution insurance period plus one year”, which is 44 years, not 43.
> Julia has to work another year to retire at full rate
• Charles, retired with a pension of 950 euros
Under the new rules provided by the reform, Charles will benefit from a reassessment of the minimum contribution which will be of concern to both future and current retirees, provided they have made a full career contribution to the minimum wage. Therefore, he must receive a pension equivalent to 85% of the net minimum wage, or 1,200 euros gross per month.
> Charles’s pension will increase with the pension reform
• Camille, born in 1971, started her career at the age of 24, with a three year break
Camille started working in early 1995. However, she was out of work for three years. Under the current system, he would be able to leave at age 62 but would have to work until age 67, the age at which the discount cancels, to earn full retirement.
With these reforms, Camille will not be able to leave before the age of 64. On the other hand, the age for canceling the discount that allows for automatic retirement benefits at full rates will remain the same, namely 67 years.
> After all, Camille will get a full pension at the age of 67 years
•Yoann, a police officer born in 1978, started working at the age of 22
Yoann is an active staff member of the National Police. Currently, he can retire at age 52, provided he accepts a reduction in his pension. If he theoretically had to contribute 172 quarters (43 years) to receive his full pension, he would be able to get it from age 57, the discount cancellation age for police.
With the reform, civil servants who carry out dangerous activities can still go home earlier but still have to work longer hours. Therefore Yoann will not be able to leave before the age of 54 but will still be able to receive full retirement at the age of 57.
> This will change nothing for Yoann’s full retirement. On the other hand, he will not be able to retire before the age of 54, compared to the current 52 with reforms.
• Malika, born in 1989, is known to be disabled
Recognized as disabled, Malika would be able to get out at the age of 62 at the full rate under the current system, even if she has not validated all of her residencies.
The same goes for government reform. Even if the legal age were to be increased to 64, “an early retirement age would be created to allow” persons deemed disabled or unfit “to be able to retire at 62 at full rates, as it is today”, the government said.
> Nothing has changed for Malika.
• Pascal, born in 1974, started working at the age of 23, self-employed
As for private employees, Pascal has to work another two years. Therefore he will not be able to retire before the age of 64, against today’s 62. Touraine’s accelerated reforms, however, changed nothing for him as he contributed 43 years to his full fare.
The government’s plan also promises to increase the retirement pension of the self-employed. “For the self-employed, we want to simplify the calculation of social security contributions, and increase their ability to generate pension rights”, we can read in the reform presentation file. “With PLFSS 2024, we will start technical and advisory work to reform the social basis for the self-employed, so that the calculation is simplified and the right to retirement for the self-employed is strengthened, especially for the simplest of them. them,” he said.
> For Pascal, nothing has changed, except perhaps the amount of his pension, although all the terms are unknown.
*For the sake of simplicity, this simulation does not take into account rules relating to strenuous work that is likely to advance the retirement age. However, it must be remembered that the difficulty of the profession will always be taken into account in reforms, but with some modifications, to allow the person concerned to leave at the age of 62 years and not at the age of 64 years. The government plans to include the maternity leave period in the calculation of the contribution period.
