The retirement reform wanted by the government, which raises the legal retirement age to 64, is particularly rejected among those under 35.
For many young people, faith in the pay-as-you-go system is even in question.
Many believe they will never receive a pension.
Several young active people return for
20 Minutes
to their defeatism towards their future.
Nicolas takes a puff of his cigarette to give himself courage, then launches the simulation of his retirement on his mobile.
The verdict falls, as fatal as expected.
With the new reform, he will have to work until the age of 67 to be entitled to a full pension.
“At 67, where do you think I would be?
Either in the cemetery or in the hospital, given my lifestyle”.
At just 30 years old, the Parisian is part of this generation disenchanted with pensions, the one who doesn't really believe in it anymore.
“By dint of always pushing back the starting age, we say to ourselves that we are not going to touch anything at all and therefore that it is useless to contribute”, judges the banker, disillusioned.
A study by the Institut Montaigne*, published in January, also indicates that 59% of those under 35 find the current retirement age - 62 - too high, compared to 48% in national average.
Which lets imagine what they think of a departure at 64…
Illness before retirement
A pessimism to which Henri Sterdyniak, economist at the French Observatory of Economic Conditions (OFCE) and pension specialist does not succumb: “The average lifespan in France is 85 years for women and 79 years for men.
Even assuming leaving at 67, there is a life and a retirement behind it.
This life expectancy has stagnated somewhat since 2015 - except for the Covid years when it fell - but is expected to continue to climb.
According to INSEE forecasts, babies born in 2022 have an average life expectancy of between 90 and 93 years depending on their sex.
Almost a hundred years old which seems unimaginable for Lucie, 29 pins on the clock.
Even hidden behind her blonde locks, her look barely hides a heavy family past.
Count a mother, an aunt and a grandmother who each died before the age of 60 from breast cancer, and the virtual certainty for the young woman that the crab will come to visit her too, one day or another.
“When retirement was at 60, I could still hope to be alive until then.
In a few years, we went from 60 to 64 years - probably 67 if I want a full rate - without understanding anything, without being able to say anything.
But in my family, a woman who lasts until 67, that doesn't exist.
»
Alive yes, but in what state?
Even imagining the dazzling progress of medicine, Lucie cannot regain hope: “Come on OK, I might be alive, but in what state?
Even if he doesn't finish me off, the cancer will have done some damage.
Supposing he never comes, do you know many of them, septuagenarians who are in great shape?
“The young blonde speaks knowingly, working as a caregiver in a retirement home in Chambéry.
“After 70 years, it's still frankly complicated.
After 75, you're often no longer aware of what's going on around you, you suffer your life.
You have to tell young people, it's frankly not a dream.
»
If Lucie's observations have nothing to do with a sociological study, the official figures corroborate her pessimistic vision: according to 2019 data (updated in April 2021) from INSEE, the average age in good health in France stands at 63.7 years for men and 64.6 for women.
Nicolas comments on them: “We'll be completely broke when we stop working, isn't that great?
In the INSEE report, we can read in particular that "life expectancy in good health is more important than life expectancy, because without quality of life, increased longevity is of little interest" .
Here too, Henri Sterdyniak relativizes: “This does not mean that people are no longer autonomous either, or that their life is not worth it.
And then, it's an average, a lot of people are doing well at 70 or 75.
»
Retirement at 64… for now
Sébastien, too, does not believe much in his future life as a retiree.
Here, however, there is no predisposition to cancer, just the weariness of seeing one's social achievements at birth erode over the decades.
In 29 years of existence, Sébastien will have experienced five pension reforms – 1993, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2014 – and perhaps soon a sixth this year: “It's like unemployment.
By dint of always lowering our rights, we wonder what is the point of contributing, if we are never eligible for benefits?
Retirement is the same.
We constantly see the starting age pushed back and we say to ourselves that we will not touch it and that we are being taxed for nothing.
»
Seeing the reforms follow one another almost as quickly as Mbappé's goals, the Perpignan who works in real estate is convinced that the story will not end there: "At this rate, we tell ourselves that it will continue to move, and that by the time we reach retirement, the departure will have increased to 70, or even 75, given the current trend.
»
"When it's our turn, there will be nothing left"
In the speeches, the fear of being the great wronged of history dominates.
"We're going to contribute to the ball for the others, and when it's our turn, there will be nothing left.
Might as well slam our money now rather than participate in a system that will plant us”, cowardly, disillusioned, Mehdi, 32, living in Montpellier.
One last time, Henri Sterdyniak tries to calm the defeatist impulses of youth: "Young people are afraid that the pension system will no longer apply, but everything indicates that the system will hold and will be efficient for them too, there is no currently has no reason to believe that it won't work.
Ditto to say that this system condemns us: for the majority of people, there will be long years of retirement, probably even more than previous generations.
»
Working in your sixties, impossible to imagine for some
Doing a job as a senior seems utopian for Medhi: “I work in plumbing, can you see me working up to 60 years?
Have you ever seen a plumber in his 60s?
Not me.
You will have your back put back in place by a 65-year-old physiotherapist?
You have to stop the nonsense.
This system is based on an illusion: even if we wanted to, working for 43 years is very nice, but it's wind.
»
The optimistic speeches, Nicolas also does not pay too much attention to them: “It's very cute, but I'm waiting to see to believe it.
Leaving at 67 is still crazy.
» New cigarette.
One of the last, he promises.
"I quit this year.
In these conditions, you have to take good care of yourself”.
Among young people, failing to have faith in the future, we try to make it as bearable as possible.
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