PENSION INCREASE 2022. Basic pensions saw their amount increase on July 1st. What revaluation? What gain? We tell you everything.
[Mis à jour le 5 juillet 2022 à 14h18] The increase in pensions, it’s done! The amount of basic pensions is increased by 4% since July 1, 2022 to take account of the galloping inflation observed in recent months. An increase that would represent “a gain of 45 euros” according to the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt. In other words, 540 euros more per year for each retiree. Attention, the increase will only be visible in August, the July pension being paid in August 2022. This revaluation of pensions should be part of the purchasing power bill presented to the Council of Ministers on July 6. , then submitted to Parliament immediately after.
This increase in retirement pensions will be paid from August. Why ? As the pension for the month of July is paid the following month, the gain will be effective from the August 9, 2022. Note that the increase concerns only basic retirement pensions. Standard supplementary pensions Agirc Arrco or Ircantec are not subject to the 4% revaluation. They depend on the social partners, an increase is however envisaged around November 1st.
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 successive increases in the amount of retirement pensions (1% in January 2022 and 4% in July 2022) represent a cumulative increase of around 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 remember 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 per month.
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.
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!
The increase in pensions is effective from Friday July 1, 2022. De facto, the very first visible increase in retirement pensions will be visible during the first payment, the following month, namely August 9, 2022, a date revealed by Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt in early June. “We want this indexation to inflation to be valid for pensions in July. Under the general scheme, the pension for July is paid on August 9”, he explained then. A retroactive effect to July 1 should be applied.