Barthélémy Philippe 06:21, March 24, 2023

Is retiring earlier synonymous with happiness? While Parliament has just adopted the postponement of the legal age from 62 to 64 years and the French massively reject this reform, the economic research firm Astérès has crossed the happiness index and the retirement age of thirty OECD countries. The results are astonishing.

Countries where people retire early are not necessarily the happiest people. For now, in France, the legal age is still set at 62. We therefore retire earlier than elsewhere and yet the happiness index is lower than in Germany, the Netherlands, the United States and Finland. However, in these countries, it is not possible to retire before the age of 64, or even 66 as in Germany.

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"What could explain this apparent contradiction is the fact that working more increases the standard of living, the GDP per capita. And this point is one of the six components taken into account in the happiness index," says Sylvain Bersinger, economist at Asterès.

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"Work can be a source of social ties. In the happiness index, there is the intensity of social ties that is taken into account. In the way the happiness index was constructed, some indicators tend to increase when you work more," adds Sylvain Bersinger at the microphone of Europe 1. However, some countries remain exceptions. Austrians retire early, at age 62, and the happiness index is among the highest in the world.