Take This Job and …

We all know, or have been told by Emily in Paris, that the French work to live, rather than live to work. So it isn’t surprising that a proposal by President Emmanuel Macron’s government to gradually raise the retirement age to 62 from 60 has brought people out into the streets and has shut down most rail travel (not just trains between cities but also the Paris Métro).

In the absence of relevant photos, I present you photos of what the French live for. Like amazing pastries. Most important is the top photo–terrace cafés.

To be clear, the increase would be spread out, rising by a three months at a time until it hits 64. So somebody who now is 62 can still retire at 62. It won’t be until 2030 that you can’t retire until 64. Also, you have to have paid in for 43 years instead of 40. There are exceptions for those who started working in their teens, who can retire at 58 or 60. There’s also an increase in the amount of the minimum pension to 85% of the minimum wage, or 1200€ a month. And lots more details. Criticism, aside from “I want to retire as soon as possible with as much money as possible,” includes that the reform doesn’t adequately account for time women take off to caregiving for children and elderly parents; that it doesn’t raise the amount workers contribute (some critics say high-salary workers should pay more to help out); that it doesn’t reduce the amount the highest-paid retirees receive–measures that could help balance the books without raising the retirement age.

Castles, check.

Balancing the books is the raison d’être for the reform. The system is currently in the red because people are living longer (life expectancy at birth is 82, among the world’s highest), the birth rate is 1.8 kids per female, the lowest since 1946, resulting in more retirees being supported by fewer workers. That’s also because there are no 401(k)s in France–the system is still based on defined benefits (traditional pensions) and not defined contributions. At the same time, it’s more like Social Security in the U.S., insofar as your pension comes from various public or sectoral funds and not from your employer. So, unlike traditional pensions in the U.S., your pension follows you from job to job, and if your company goes under, like Enron did, you still get a pension. And there’s no expecting average individuals to be investment experts who may either take too many risks and lose what they’d set aside or not take enough risk and have returns eaten up by inflation. The median balance for a 401(k) at Vanguard is $58,035–not enough to support someone into their 80s.

Still more pastries (I see strawberry).

I know a few people here who get more in retirement than they did when working. In fact, unlike in many countries, the average French retiree is better off than the average French worker. The poverty rate of retirees is 9%, compared with 15% for the rest of the population. One economist I heard attributed it not only to decent pensions but also to the rise in real estate prices. Those who bought homes or rental properties early in Les Trentes Glorieuses–the three decades of robust economic growth between 1945 and 1975–saw the most benefit, but also anybody who bought before 1995 has seen real estate values explode (and if you follow the link, note that you can see the evolution of real estate prices from 1200 to 2022 in Paris. Yes, the year 1200. I love France.). Rental income probably accounts for the difference between the average monthly pension of 1544€ in 2019 and the average standard of living of 2132€.

Adorable cafés and storefronts.

Many times I have heard French friends and others refer to retirement as les grandes vacances–the big vacation. It’s something they earned. People say, “moi, j’ai bien cotisé!” (I paid in my share). That’s true, but they were paying their share into a system that had been twisted without regard to the future. In defined-benefit systems, you pay for the people currently retired–you aren’t paying into a compartmentalized account for yourself later. Back in 1983, the government lowered the retirement age to 60 from 65, which it had been since 1945. The reason was that Baby Boomer workers were filling up the coffers. Rather than invest the money for after the Baby Boom left work, the government of François Mitterrand took the extremely popular step of lowering the retirement age.

Attitude. From the adorable cheese monger at the market: “When you buy from a small business, you don’t help the third biggest multinational to buy his 81st chalet. You help a little girl take gymnastic class. You help a little boy buy a new bike. You help a mom and dad put food on their plates. Thank you for buying local.”

In very broad strokes, here’s the evolution. In 1993, a reform by Édouard Balladur required workers in the private sector to pay into the system longer–40 years instead of 37.5 years, without raising the retirement age, so people who started working before age 20 would still be able to retire by 60 while those who started working later would have to wait until they had completed 40 years of work to retire. In 1995, Prime Minister Alain Juppé wanted to extend that to public sector employees. This was met with big protests. In 2003, François Fillon managed to get that through, with plenty of exceptions and smaller protests. In 2011, the government of Nicholas Sarkozy (the law is named after Minister of Work, Solidarity and Public Function Éric Woerth) raised the general retirement age to 62 from 60. That brought out the most protesters (estimated at 3.5 million nationwide by the unions and at 1.2 million by the government).

Wine at the IKEA cafeteria.

I should add that French retirement, like French verb conjugation, is riddled with exceptions. There are 37 retirement regimes, of which 15 are special regimes covering 3.4% of the population and allowing full retirement before age 60. The jobs covered include mines, the national railway, personnel of the National Opera of Paris, gas and electricity, and notaries. A friend was a receptionist for a notary. Between that and having three kids (in the private sector, you get two years of retirement per kid), she was able to fully retire in her early 50s. That’s just nuts. At the railway company, conductors can retire at 50 years and eight months of age. Working on a train used to be difficult, dirty and dangerous, but it isn’t anymore.

Red tile roofs.

There are many jobs that aren’t for older people. Bad backs, bad knees, a lifetime of minor or major accidents, overexertions and illnesses make some kinds of work impossible. People age differently, too. Of two friends, both at 75, one was at the gym daily and went for daylong hikes in the Black Mountains a couple of times a week while the other was diabetic and had serious heart trouble. Ironically, it’s the latter who still works–he’s an author.

More pastries.

Over the weekend, I was a volunteer with the International Festival of Political Film here in Carcassonne. The volunteer pool was polarized between very young and very old. Hardly anybody between the ages of 30 and 50. One of the films was “Ruthless Times–Songs of Care,” about nursing homes in Finland. After the film, I sat at a table with some other volunteers, all of them retired, and we talked about the film and about retirement. Only one was relieved to be retired. The others said they missed working, for the social connections most of all but also for the purpose and structure it gave their lives. One had been laid off and never managed to find another job. The Carnivore was laid off at age 55 and despite incessant applications never found another job. When one prospect looked optimistic, he was overjoyed. “I’m not useless,” he said after the interview went well, and then he collapsed in my arms sobbing. I knew he was upset about not working, but I hadn’t realized it weighed on him to that point.

Adorable villages.

Sadly, age discrimination is alive and well in France. Job applications are through online forms, which won’t let you proceed without filling in the date you graduated from university–something that gives away your age. You’re no longer expected to put your birth date and marital status on your curriculum vitae, but most examples include a photo. Companies want to hire someone with some experience, but not too much–i.e., younger than age 45. Anybody older is considered a dinosaur who can’t use technology. Or, probably more accurately, someone who will push back against requests for long days, weekend work and 24/7 availability for answering emails (it’s just an email! be a team player!). I heard an economist say that there’s a labor shortage, so older workers should be able to find jobs, but I have big doubts. “Knowledge” jobs for highly educated people, or high-skilled jobs for those with specialized experience seem to be the hardest ones to get if you’re older even though they’re the jobs older people are most able to continue to perform.

Country in the middle of town. Also, this photo is from mid-November, so also: short, mild winters.

Older workers want the same thing as millennials and Gen Z: interesting work, reasonable and flexible hours, fair pay. I wish that the land of working to live could set an example of a more humane work environment that allows more people to work longer–that allows more people to work, period.

More attitude, plus it’s attitude about pastry! Don’t call it a pain au chocolat in the south.

I got a glimpse Thursday afternoon of the protest parade in Carcassonne, and later I heard a loud boom that somebody set off. According to the unions, more than two million people protested; according to the government it was 1.2 million. Round two of the strikes is scheduled for Jan. 31. If you want to follow the news in French, here are some suggestions:

Hugo Décrypte: I listen to the podcast, but the link is to his YouTube channel. Incredibly popular summary of the news in 10 minutes every day. In French.

C dans l’air: The name plays on “it’s in the air” or what people are talking about. This is a nightly TV news show that goes in depth about one topic per episode, speaking with a panel of three or four experts. Again, it exists as a podcast (and the “on the street” segments are a little annoying without video). In French.

L’Esprit Public: a weekly radio program/podcast that explores a topic, sometimes more, in depth with several experts. No “man on the street” blah blah. Very thoughtful, even intellectual. In French.

Talking France: a weekly podcast about France aimed at expats. In English.

What do you think? Are you retired and relieved to be done with all that? Would you have liked to continue working part-time? Were you pushed out too early? Are you too young to retire and unable to get hired? Do you feel set for retirement?

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