French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced the suspension of the 2023 pension reform, deferring discussions on age and contribution duration until after the 2027 presidential election. The move aims to stabilize the budget amid democratic distrust, but it sparks debate on implications for equality and professional inequalities. Experts note that the reform's foundations remain unchanged, while urging fixes for disparities, especially for women and seniors.
In his general policy speech on October 14, Sébastien Lecornu prioritized improving women's pensions, a concern voiced since the 2014 Touraine reform but implemented through measures deemed derisory. Women's average pension is 62% of men's, and the poverty rate among retired women has risen since 2017, reaching 25% for divorced women. The announced pension freeze will worsen this.
The 2026 social security financing bill provides for mothers' pensions to be calculated on the 24 best years for one child and 23 for two or more, instead of 25. Researcher Christiane Marty notes that « no voluntarist policy is implemented to allow women access to full-time employment », and this measure, benefiting 50% of women from 2026, barely addresses short careers or the décote, as recognized in the 2019 Delevoye report. It entrenches gendered roles, potentially against EU equality directives.
Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, former minister and Renaissance deputy, argues that « the necessity to work longer cannot be imposed in the same way on everyone ». The 2023 reform, contested despite warnings since Michel Rocard's 1991 White Paper, faces a pay-as-you-go system's imbalance, with 25% of public spending and 28% of salary contributions. France lags in over-60s activity, with short annual work duration and productivity ranking 27th among 38 OECD countries. Since 2010, raising the legal age to 62 increased average departure age, but 20-25% of workers and caregivers are deemed unfit before 60.
Economist Michaël Zemmour analyzes that the suspension delays application by one generation for 1964-1968 births, allowing departure three months earlier, such as 63 years and six months for 1967 births instead of nine. Foundations remain: progression to 64 for post-1968 generations. Challenges persist, like careers ending around 60 without retirement, affecting one in three workers and one in four employees (Insee), widening living standard gaps.
