French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the minimum retirement age will remain 62, but employees will have to work until 64 to receive a full pension.
In a sweeping speech on Dec. 11, he said the implementation of the pension changes will be delayed. The new pension system will only apply to people born after 1975. The measures will start being implemented for new workers entering the labour market in 2022, which is the final year of President Emmanuel Macron’s current term.
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The government says a minimum pension of €1,000 (about $1,100) per month will be put in place for those who have worked all their life.
The government’s announcements come on the seventh straight day of a crippling transport strike and after hundreds of thousands of angry protesters have marched through French cities.
Unions fear that a new system, which replaces a national pension system with special privileges for some in the transport sector, will force people to work longer for smaller pension allocations. The government says it won’t raise the age of retirement up from 62.
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