• The government's pension reform project was presented on January 10.

  • The executive is trying to defend a reform of “social justice” but is struggling to convince the French, according to several polls.

  • The communication of the macronists has been undermined in recent days on three themes: gender equality, the financial balance of the system, and the employability of seniors.

In politics too, the devil is in the details.

Since the presentation of its pension bill on January 10, the government has been trying to defend a “social justice” reform.

But on the eve of a new day of mobilization in the street, the executive is struggling to convince.

Especially since its communication has been undermined in recent days on three themes: gender equality, the financial balance of the system and the employability of seniors.

The opposition even unearthed punchlines from the presidential camp to scratch the arguments of the walkers.

Emmanuel Macron himself paid the price for this boomerang effect.



Punchline 1: “Women are somewhat penalized”

Franck Riester had the bad idea to drop this little bomb last week during a broadcast on La Chaîne Parlementaire and Public Sénat.

Asked about the extension from 62 to 64 years, the minister delegate in charge of relations with Parliament acknowledged that the reform would have a greater impact on women.

“Obviously, if you postpone the legal age, they are a little penalized.

We absolutely do not disagree, ”he said.

Behind this admission, the report on the impact of the government bill, the conclusions of which show that women will, on average, have to postpone their retirement by seven months, compared to five for men.

An example of this discrepancy: women who had acquired enough trimesters to leave at 62 or 63 (thanks to the trimesters obtained through maternity,

up to eight per child) will now have to continue working until the new legal age of 64.

An "inequality" which the opposition quickly seized on, denouncing "an anti-women's reform".

Elisabeth Borne and her ministers have tried to extinguish the fire, insisting on the fact that the bill mainly contributed “to reducing the pension gap” between the two sexes.

“Several measures come to fight against the inequalities that already existed in the current system: the taking into account of parental leave or caregiver leave, long careers, the valuation of minimum pensions or the maintenance of 67 years without discount… All this will mostly benefit women,” insists Benjamin Haddad, MP for Paris and spokesperson for the Renaissance group.

Punchline 2: “Pension spending is not getting out of hand”

During a hearing at the National Assembly on Thursday, January 19, the president of the Pensions Orientation Council (COR), Pierre-Louis Bras, spoke about the financial balance of the system, in the various scenarios imagined.

“Pension expenditure is not skidding, it is relatively under control, in most cases, it tends to decrease over time.

And in the one retained by the government, they decrease very, very little but a little in the long term, ”he said.

If Pierre-Louis Bras also indicates that the balance of the system should widen "because there will be negative developments on resources", he does not seem to spare the action of the executive.

"Pension spending is not skidding, but it is not compatible with the government's economic policy and public finance objectives."

Blessed bread for the opposition, while the majority cites the COR report at will to justify its reform and fill the "100 billion debts" by 2030. Elisabeth Borne was therefore annoyed by this exit, during his vows to the press.

“There are a lot of assumptions in the COR report […] Perhaps that can affect the readability of the conclusions, or even lead the COR president to have a rather personal position”, dropped the Prime Minister.

Punchline 3: “Good luck already to go to 62 years old”

But hasn't Emmanuel Macron, in the past, been the best opponent of this reform?

A video of the great national debate, in April 2019, shows him sweeping away the extension of retirement.

“We will tell you 'we must now go to 64'.

You already don't know what to do after 55, people tell you: ''jobs are better for you''.

That's the reality, that's the fight we're waging.

We must first win this fight before going to explain to people '' my good friends, work longer! State to denounce the difficulties of employability of seniors (55 to 64 years).

In 2021,

To remedy this, the government intends to set up an index to better understand “the place of employees at the end of their career” in companies with more than 300 employees, without however installing any incentive or coercive measures.

"Pulling back the retirement age will mechanically have an impact on the employment rate of seniors, as has been seen in our European neighbors", assures Benjamin Haddad.

The government also says it is “very open to proposals” on this issue during future parliamentary debates.

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