Pensions: does the reform penalize women?

Laura Laplaud 12:28 p.m., February 07, 2023, modified at 12:28 p.m., February 07, 2023

It is a new day of mobilization against the pension reform which is announced this Tuesday.

This bill raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 and provides for an increase in the contribution period necessary to leave at the full rate from 42 to 43 annuities.

"Unfair", "unjustified", "totally political", critics fuse against this reform that the government nevertheless promises "indispensable" to save the pension system.

This reform was all the more attacked by its opponents as it was presented by the executive as "fair" and bringing "social progress" while disparities will remain in particular between women and men.

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Women and men do not leave at the same age

"It's important to say this: until now, women retired later than men, in the future, they will leave earlier," said Élisabeth Borne.

The government intends to rely on the impact study attached to the amending Social Security financing bill.

But this document reveals that the postponement of the retirement age will be more marked for women than for men.

In 2020, the current retirement age is 62 years and 4 months for retirees residing in France.

Women leave on average 7 months after men: 62 years and 7 months for women and 62 years for men.

"An extra effort" asked of women

"This reform will require an additional effort from women than from men in general," said Rachel Silvera, lecturer in economics and specialist in gender inequalities in the labor market.

According to the impact study, women born in 1972 will see their average retirement age increase by nine months on average, compared to five for men of the same generation.

But it is women born after 1980 who will be most affected.

Concerning them, the retirement age will be an additional eight months compared to four for men.

The shift in the legal age of departure erases the benefit of quarters validated for maternity

Why do women retire later?

According to Rachel Silvera, this is due to the activity behavior of women.

"When a child arrives, one in two women will either stop or reduce their professional activity, while this is not even the case for one in nine men."

When a child is born, eight trimesters are assigned.

Four are related to maternity or adoption.

Four under the education of the child, which can, since 2010, be divided between the two parents.

These quarters count for the contribution period and not the postponement of the retirement age.

The shift in the legal age of departure therefore erases the benefit of quarters validated for maternity, as economics lecturer Rachel Silvera explains: "These women who could finally leave with a full career, thanks to these quarters, more of 5,000 a year, will have to wait 64 years. Family rights today are being undermined."

"Many words for many evils for women"

Regarding the period of parental leave, the government promises that it will be taken into account in the long career system.

In fact, it will do so within the limit of four quarters and will only concern women who started working before the age of 20.

Either 2,000 or 3,000 women per year, according to the government's impact study which gives two different figures.

"A drop of water" judge Rachel Silvera.

"This device corresponds to a very large majority of men. We are talking about 2,000 women out of 400,000 parents."

In the end, this reform represents "many words for many evils for women", she adds.

Women are also often those who interrupt their professional activity to help a loved one.

According to the High Authority for Health, women are in the majority among caregivers at 57%.

The government bill intends to create an old-age insurance for carers so that the quarters devoted to helping a person are considered as validated quarters.

The discount will remain at age 67

The pension reform presented by Elisabeth Borne does not plan to touch the age of cancellation of the discount set at 67 years.

A measure "particularly favorable to women who are twice as likely to have to wait until this age due to career interruption", indicates the government in its report on the objectives and effects of the pension reform project.

However, a woman who works until she is 67 to retire "at full rate" is a woman who will see the amount of her pension affected since she will not have met the sufficient number of quarters.

"I jumped out of my chair", reacts Rachel Silvera.

"This haircut is among the most unfair measures towards women. Why? Because women have incomplete careers,

A minimum pension of 1,200 euros for all and first, for women

The pension reform desired by the government proposes the revaluation of the minimum pension up to 1,200 euros gross per month, or 85% of the Smic, in the event of a full career, for a private employee taking into account his supplementary pension.

A revaluation which concerned “very few people” according to Rachel Silvera, because of these two criteria and which will be “of the order of 100 euros maximum” for the women concerned.

And a measure that will not greatly reduce the pension gap between women and men, which currently stands at 40%.

"If there are inequalities in retirement, it is not the effect of pensions and reforms. It is first of all because there are inequalities in the labor market and in life" ,

In France, nearly two million people receive a pension of less than 1,000 euros gross per month.

Among them, many women, farmers, self-employed or craftsmen.

According to the government, this increase will concern nearly 2 million current retirees, 60% of whom are women.

They will thus see their pensions revalued by 6.7% on average (760 euros per year) against 5.1% (540 euros) for men.

The hardship criteria will not change

The hardship criteria will not change in the current pension reform, which Rachel Silvera regrets since these criteria do not take into account the hardship of the most feminized professions.

"There is complete invisibility. I am thinking of the physical but also emotional constraints that are made invisible. There is always a blind spot: the place of women in it."

Critics of the old pension reforms have already been made on the subject of inequalities between women and men, recalls Rachel Silvera.

"When we went from the 10 to the 25 best years in the calculation of private retirement pensions, when the age of cancellation of the discount was introduced and since 2010 women can only benefit from six quarters under the motherhood…”, she lists before concluding.

"Each reform has had its share of measures which have had an indirect negative impact on women."