October 2025
09Oct

Modifying pension reform would be very costly for France, says finance minister

Any plans to modify France's pension reforms - whose unpopularity is one of the reasons behind the country's political crisis - would be very costly for the economy, said acting French finance minister Roland Lescure on Wednesday. "Modifying the pension reform will cost hundreds of millions in 2026, and billions in 2027," Lescure told France Inter radio. Elisabeth Borne, a former Prime Minister and the country's current caretaker education minister, told Le Parisien newspaper on Tuesday that she was open to suspending the pension overhaul...

October 9, 2025
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September 2025
19Sep

65-year-old retirees in France now have higher incomes than working-age adults—meanwhile, American boomers can’t even afford to retire

French retirees officially bring in more income than their working-aged counterparts, as Americans are struggling to find the funds to retire and support their post-employment lifestyle. Due to France’s relatively young retirement age, lofty governmental spending on pensions, and high wage replacement rate, they’re now out-earning citizens with jobs as the country’s officials try and make unpopular changes. While boomers in the U.S. and UK are being forced to go back to work because they can’t afford to retire in...

September 19, 2025
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June 2025
30Jun

Pensions conclave: What changes for retirement in France?

The French prime minister has hailed small steps of progress at his pensions 'conclave' - including one change which has particular significance for foreigners who have worked in France for part of their career. On Thursday, after four months of discussions between the government, employers and moderate unions broke up, France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou extended – again – the deadline to mid-July to allow agreement on sticking points. There has been no big breakthrough on the issue that has convulsed...

June 30, 2025
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27Jun

France. Defiant Bayrou won’t concede defeat on pension reform talks

 French Prime Minister François Bayrou is refusing to admit defeat after his signature effort to tweak the country's unpopular 2023 retirement reform appeared to collapse this week without a deal. At a press conference on Thursday, Bayrou asserted that the trade unions and industry representatives who participated in his "conclave" on the reform had managed to agree to several compromises that his government plans to legislate in the fall. Those include a commitment to make the pension system financially sustainable...

June 27, 2025
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24Jun

French prime minister to meet pension negotiators after talks fail

Months-long talks between French trade unions and employers over reforms to the pension system collapsed late on Monday, prompting Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to summon both sides to find a way forward. The so-called pension conclave's failure puts Bayrou in a vulnerable position, as his government can fall anytime if left-wing and far-right parties band together to back a motion of no-confidence. The hard-left France Unbowed has said it will call a confidence vote, and the Socialists are split. However, Marine...

June 24, 2025
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April 2025
23Apr

Is France really planning a ‘tax raid’ on pensioners?

Proposed changes to the tax system for pensioners in the 2026 Budget are already raising anger - here's what is planned and how it affects foreign retirees. France has only just managed to pass its 2025 Budget, but already attention is turning to the 2026 spending plans, with prime minister François Bayrou giving a press conference outlining the financial problems that the country faces, and what must be done to tackle them. France faces a soaring budget deficit and the parliamentary crisis...

April 23, 2025
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February 2025
21Feb

France. Pensions: a deficit of 30 billion euros in 2045 without new reform

The Court of Auditors unveiled this Thursday an alarming report on the future of the pension system in France, commissioned by François Bayrou to serve as a basis for negotiations between social partners. According to its projections, the deficit would reach 15 billion euros in 2035 and 30 billion in 2045 if no additional reforms are implemented. In 2023, a surplus of 8,5 billion euros was recorded, but this is explained by cyclical effects linked to inflation and the...

February 21, 2025
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19Feb

France’s latest pensions battle could ignite fresh political crisis

President Emmanuel Macron braved strikes and street protests to force through a deeply unpopular reform in 2023 raising France's retirement age by two years to 64, saying it was the only way to keep the generous but costly pension system afloat. Now an assessment this week by the country's independent public audit office on the size of the pension deficit could rekindle debate about the divisive reform and plunge Macron's fragile, debt-laden government back into crisis. Francois Bayrou, Macron's latest prime minister, requested...

February 19, 2025
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January 2025
15Jan

French PM to review Pension Reform

French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said Tuesday his government will focus on stability, dialogue and profound reforms, especially on pensions. In his general policy speech, Bayrou emphasized the urgency of reducing France's historic public debt and achieving financial stability. "France has never been as indebted as it is today," he noted. To reduce the deficit to 5.4 percent of GDP by 2025 and further to around 3 percent by 2029, Bayrou urged all ministries to implement profound reforms. He announced plans...

January 15, 2025
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October 2024
21Oct

In France, senior citizens are (almost) king

It was highly symbolic. In the space of a few days, France went from having the youngest prime minister of the Fifth Republic, 35-year-old Gabriel Attal, to the oldest, Michel Barnier, 73. Beyond the political context, this change carries a particular significance at a time when the country is quietly going through a profound transformation: It is aging – and quickly. To prove the point, centenarians, rare 30 years ago, are now almost commonplace: There are around 30,000 of...

October 21, 2024
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