French reforms substantial but insufficient

[Joanne98]

Source: Globe and Mail

After one of the longest drum rolls in history, France finally announced a substantial reform of its generous pay-as-you-go pension system on Wednesday, but it won’t be sufficient to solve the problem.

Raising the legal retirement age gradually to 62 in 2018 breaks a taboo in a country where the right to retire at 60 was widely considered one of the major social achievements of the late Socialist President Francçois Mitterrand, adopted in 1983.

Despite a string of concessions meant to ensure social justice, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-right government will face strong trade union opposition, with strikes and demonstrations likely after the summer break.

But in contrast to revolts against his predecessors’ labour market reforms, this time the street is unlikely to prevail.

“The symbol is important. It was important to break the psychological barrier of retirement at 60. Then you can start doing things. But by itself it won’t assure the health of the pension system,” said Gilles Moec, an economist at Deutsche Bank in London.


Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/french-reforms-substantial-but-insufficient/article1605854/

[conspirator]

1. The race to the bottom. We are going back to the 19th century were you worked from dawn till

the boss said it was ok to go home.