PENSION INCREASE. A further increase in basic pensions is expected in early 2023. Supplementary pensions will also increase this fall.
[Mis à jour le 28 septembre 2022 à 08h09] The Social Security financing bill clearly indicates a further increase in the amount of basic retirement pensions, according to Les Echos. This increase should be around 0,8% from January 2023. It follows an initial revaluation of 4% in July 2022, as part of the purchasing power law passed this summer by deputies and senators. The government’s objective being to index the rise in pensions to the rise in inflation, measured at 5,8% in August over one year, and which should exceed 5% on average over the whole of 2022. ASPA beneficiaries and survivors’ pensions are also affected. A debate on a new anticipation of the revaluation of pensions is already planned for Parliament in mid-October, in particular due to the high inflation which should continue in the first quarter of 2023.
But above all, it is indeed the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pensions which will increase between 4,9% and 5% from November 1 next. This increase concerns 13 million French. The social partners (who decide on the increase in additional costs) will meet on October 6 at a board meeting to endorse the service value of the point. As a reminder, two data are taken into account to determine this revaluation. First, the forecast average inflation rate over the year is provided by INSEE (it could be around 5.3% in 2022). Then, with regard to the wage development index, it is estimated by taking the average between the government’s assumption, taken from the stability program and the European Commission’s assumption. This last indicator is important insofar as pensions cannot increase faster than wages, at the risk of jeopardizing the balance of the pension system.
The rules for increasing supplementary pensions (Agirc-Arrco, for example) differ from those for basic pensions. These supplementary pensions are calculated from the number of points acquired during the career, to which a value of the point is multiplied. Then, the social partners decide on a possible revaluation of the value of this point.
Generally, these pensions are increased every year on November 1st. In 2021, the value of the Agirc-Arrco point was revalued by 1%. It therefore went from 1.2714 euros to 1.2841 euros. Regarding these supplementary pensions, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire was clear: “It is up to the social partners to upgrade supplementary pensions. We will increase the basic pensions.” So, a little more patience to know the next revaluation of the index point! But in all likelihood, the rise in supplementary pensions is expected to be announced in early October 2022. For additional Agirc Arrcothe social partners will meet on October 6, 2022 during a board meeting to formalize the service value of the point, and therefore, the increase in supplementary pensions from 1 November 2022. Last year, the negotiations initiated by the social partners led to an amendment to the 2019 agreement. less 0,5 point instead of 0.2 points to determine the development of supplementary retirement pensions in relation to the level of inflation.
The first payment of the pension increase for the basic scheme therefore took place on September 9, 2022, one month late. Regarding public service pensioners, the increase will take place at the end of September. Supplementary pensions will be revalued on November 1, 2022. The increase will be between 4.9% and 5.2%. Finally, pensions from the basic scheme will increase by 0.8% on January 1, 2023. Here is the complete schedule:
- September 9, 2022 : 4% increase for pensions from the basic scheme
- September 28, 2022 : 4% increase for retirees from the State civil service
- September 29, 2022 : 4% increase for retirees from the hospital public service
- 1 November 2022 : 5% increase for complementary Agirc-Arrco
- January 1, 2023 : increase of 0.8% for pensions from the basic scheme
Civil servants, employees of the private sector… This increase in pensions concerns all the basic schemes! In other words, the retirement of proper rightthe pensions of reversionthe beneficiaries of theBLADE as well as theBUT.
The successive increases in the amount of retirement pensions (1% in January 2022 et 4% in July 2022) represent a cumulative increase of about 60 euros for a retirement pension equal to 1 200 euros according to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne who gave this figure during an interview with France Bleu on June 7, 2022.
Be careful, however, it is not the exact amount that will be displayed on your total pension since it should be remembered that this increase only concerns basic retirement pensions, excluding supplementary ones. However, the average in France for basic pensions is 704 euros according to the statement of the National Pension Insurance Fund, the CNAV. If we take this figure, the 4% gain expected this summer represents an increase of 28 euros per month. For a pension of 1,200 euros, the increase amounts to 45 euros monthly.
The 4% increase results from the inflation that has been affecting France for several months. It is therefore an “alignment” with inflation to help combat the loss of purchasing power. However, this decision is a significant development compared to the policy deployed by governments in recent years. For 10 years, retirement pensions were no longer indexed to inflation despite its inclusion in the Social Security Code, resulting in a loss of purchasing power of more than 10% in 10 years according to the orientation council of retreats. This 4% increase should not, however, completely satisfy several pensioner unions who were demanding an increase of at least 4.5%, with retroactive effect from January 1.
The overall retirement pension for civil servants consists mainly of the basic pension. A supplementary scheme, the “additional public service pension (RAFP)” also exists, but is not affected by the revaluation of retirement pensions. The increase in retirement pensions for civil servants should therefore be the same as for other employees.