About a dozen youth organizations again took part in protests against pension reforms in Paris on Saturday.
(Photo: IMAGO/NurPhoto)
Paris In Paris, many people took to the streets again on Saturday against the planned pension reform. A dozen youth organizations and France’s left-wing LFI had called for protests against raising the retirement age.
Because the pension system will not be financed in the long term due to the aging population, the French government wants to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. In addition, the number of payment years required for a full pension should increase more quickly. A number of individual systems with privileges for certain professional groups are to be abolished. The monthly minimum pension is to rise to around 1200 euros.
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Currently, the retirement age is 62 years. In fact, however, retirement begins later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to be entitled to a full pension also work longer.
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On Thursday, more than 1.1 million people opposed the government’s pension plans in a major strike and mass protests across the country. 80,000 protested in Paris alone.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon from the Left Party LFI accused French President Emmanuel Macron at the rally on Saturday of “dirtying everything, reducing everything, quantifying everything” with his policies. “Damn you for wanting to commodify everything,” he said to the president. The government received support for its reform plans from tech billionaire Elon Musk. He tweeted on Friday that Macron’s plans are difficult but right.
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