France’s pension reform suspension begins: who is impacted and how?
Changes to retirement calculations for parents also come into force
France’s pension system sees several major changes from September 1, as rules for parents and ‘long career’ workers are updated alongside a temporary suspension to the controversial 2023 reforms.
The changes are among several important updates for French residents to take note of in September.
Controversial reform put on hold
The most significant change coming into force is a slowdown in the 2023 pension reforms, which are gradually raising the standard minimum retirement age from 62 to 64.
Under the original timetable, the age was increasing by three months for each successive generation, reaching 64 for everyone born in 1968 or later.
The government offered to pause this timetable in an attempt to gain Socialist Party support for the 2026 social security budget.
Unlike the wider state budget, the social security budget was passed before the end of last year.
The changes apply to pensions taking effect from September 1, 2026, and principally benefit people born between 1964 and 1968.
For those born from April 1965 to the end of 1968, the standard minimum retirement age will be three months lower than under the previous timetable.
Some of the affected generations also benefit from a reduction in the number of trimestres (paying-in quarter years) required to obtain a pension at the full rate.
The age of 64 will now apply from the 1969 generation, rather than from those born in 1968.
The graphic below explains how each group is affected.
Note that those born between 1964-1968 and who started work early (either before the age of 16, 18, 20, or 21, depending on the type of work) and who benefit from carrières longues (long careers) reductions, are also impacted by the suspension.
Increases to the age they can first take their retirement have also been frozen, allowing them to retire up to three months earlier than if the reform had not been suspended.
More information is available on government help website Service-Public, where there are specific links for public and private sector employees who are eligible for early retirement through the long careers benefits.
Further changes to pension reform ahead?
As the graphic notes, only a small cohort of workers are currently impacted by the changes.
The suspension is temporary and is only in place until January 1, 2028, at which point the pension age will begin to slowly increase again up to a new age of 64.
However, the winnter of the 2027 presidential election will lay out their own intentions for France’s heated pension conundrum, and with their victory receive an implicit mandate to make changes proposed during the campaign.
The new president will look to make the changes before January 1, 2028, likely via their own bill, if this was in their manifesto.
This could see the reform reinstated, fully suspended, or in the manifestos of some candidates, be replaced with new rules that see the retirement age reduced or further increased.
What else has changed?
A series of further changes occurred on September 1, impacting parents and mothers in particular.
Parents looking to benefit from the long career scheme can fill up to two contributing quarters based on parental activities (maternity leave, parental leave, or child-rearing) and still benefit from an early retirement.
Female civil servants who have already given birth to a child (born in 2004 or later) and only joined the civil service after the child was born will also receive a one-trimestre pension credit to go towards their retirement.
The biggest change however applies to standard retirement funding.
The French state pension is calculated based on the ‘best’ (highest earning) 25 years of employment for an individual, however this is now reduced to the best 24 years for parents of one child, or 23 years for parents of two or more children.
This applies to parents who already receive at least one trimestre of pension contributions from child-related benefits.
This should help reduce the impact of partial return to work following the birth of a child (such as hybrid working patterns), which see parents earn less and potentially limit their state pension calculations.
