French retirement pension adequacy, Digi Mart USA News (France): Isabelle, a 63-year-old former nurse who retired at just over 62, says she did not expect her pension to fall so short. Despite what she describes as a full career and years of contributions, she receives a pension that she says does not allow her to live decently.
According to the report, the French pay-as-you-go system is under strain, relying on current workers to finance the pensions of retirees. The article notes that an aging population and a shrinking share of active workers have contributed to later retirement ages and reduced pensions through successive reforms.
Isabelle is part of the first generation affected by a reform that raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64. She stopped working at 62 years and four months, and now receives 720 euros per month, including her basic pension and supplementary pension.
She described that amount as far too low.
Isabelle attributes her low pension mainly to a fragmented career with insufficient pension quarters. She began working in France in 1983, then followed her husband abroad about ten years later.
Her periods of work and volunteering there were not counted in her French pension calculation. She later raised her children and returned to work in France only in 2007, before stopping to care for her husband.
Her husband receives a pension of 4,500 euros per month, which she says allows her to get by. “I manage well.
But with this level of pension, I feel I have had only a very small career behind me,” she said.
The article also describes the situation of Jane, a British retiree who worked for a company later acquired by Hewlett-Packard. At age 69, she says her supplementary pension is fixed and does not rise with inflation because of the terms of the acquisition.
“The cost of living means the value of the Hewlett-Packard pension decreases more and more over time,” she said, as reported by The i Paper.
