In the current debate on overhauling the French pensions system, Parti Socialiste leader Martine Aubry has said that retirement at 60 is a right.
But French civil servants are being pushed towards 65 and some European neighbours are already working till 67. So when will we retire?
Christelle Rivière
38, Optician
I do not think I’ll ever get to retirement. I was studying until age 25, that is what puts students at a disadvantage.
I do not think retiring at 60 is a right, I just don’t know at what age I shall have contributed enough to survive. At 70, perhaps?
I reckon I will never be able to enjoy retirement, even if I live that long.
The present system isn’t fair. I have a cousin in the SNCF who retired on full pension at 48 and is having a grand life.
Is driving trains such a hard job these days? I’m not against a new system but how can you be sure it would be better?
Jacques Bouineau
55, Professor of legal history, La Rochelle University
Retirement at 60? Why not? The age matters less than the legal framework, which needs to be fair yet flexible, with adjustments for physically-demanding professions.
I believe in the present system, which depends on inter-generational solidarity, but personally, I shan’t retire at 60. I feel I’m only just beginning.
I hope to go on till 70 or 75. I can’t see why intellectual professions should be limited.
Look at lawyers, their retirement scheme is so non-existent, they just keep going. What we lack is individual liberty to choose our retirement age.
Voluntary pension funds could be the answer, plus a system of taking long years of study into account in the final calculation.
Patrick Babin
52, Printer, factory supervisor
Do I consider retirement at 60 a right? No, but for any one on shift work it is the maximum. When you are 20, the afternoons are great. By 30, they are tiring.
At my age, you realise it has taken a toll on your body and on your family.
Paying in more to retire early is okay for company directors, but I can’t make ends meet as it is. People with difficult jobs should be able to retire younger.
As for the next generation of manual workers, I’ve no idea how they will go on to 65 or 70. Can you see a builder’s mate shifting a 25kg breezeblock at 67?
Françoise Danion
62, Newsagent
Young people are starting to work 10 years later than my generation did. How could they ever stop at 60? It is just impossible.
Personally, I shall go on to 65, and not mind doing so. In the old days, everyone went on to 65, didn’t they? Not for all professions, mind.
Fishermen still can’t retire before 65, and that’s a disgrace.
The problem is for the younger generation, how will they find work? I don’t know what the solution is - we need older people in the workplace, they are the ones with the experience to pass down.
Marina Rigour
20, Local authority employee
Retirement? I’m happy to have just found my first job - that was hard enough.
Since last September, I’m employed by the local authority to do replacements in primary and nursery schools.
One day I’m cleaning, the next day I’m looking after babies in the town crèche, or helping small children with activities.
Luckily, I get enough work to make it feel like full-time employment.
I don’t have any job security, so retirement, I suppose it’s at 60. I’m not really sure, and honestly, I haven’t given it a thought.
