PENSION INCREASE 2022. The amount of basic retirement pensions will increase by 4% from July.
[Mis à jour le 30 juin 2022 à 08h12] The purchasing power of retirees has been falling steadily for ten years (10% to 11%). In an attempt to stop the haemorrhage, the government has decided to increase basic retirement pensions by 4% from July 2022. Please note that the increase will only be visible from August 9, the July pension payment date. The galloping inflation observed in recent months (5.2% in May 2022 over one year) has also prompted the executive to act in favor of the remuneration of our seniors. Supplementary pensions (type Agirc-Arrco) are not affected by this revaluation, they are managed by the social partners. For them, however, an increase is possible on November 1 of each year.
The various unions demanded a 4.5% increase in retirement pensions with retroactive effect from January 1, 2022. Note that the increase decided by the government represents an average increase of 45 euros per month for a pension of 1,200 euros, as announced by the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt. Keep in mind that from now on, alliances will have to be forged by Emmanuel Macron to try to pass any text since the loss of the absolute majority in the Assembly after the last legislative elections. The opposition is already organized, and in particular the Nupes with an imminent proposal on purchasing power, in particular concerning the minimum wage and energy prices.
The overall retirement pension for civil servants consists mainly of the basic pension. A supplementary scheme, the “additional public service pension (RAFP)”, concerns 20% of the amount of the annual gross index salary, at most. De facto, the increase in pensions on July 1, 2022 should be greater for civil servants than for other pensioners.
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 next pension increase will be effective from July 1, 2022, the government has confirmed. 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 announced by the 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.
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. However, this 4% increase should not completely satisfy several pensioner unions who were demanding an increase of at least 4.5%, with retroactive effect from January 1.
Adding to the increase of just over 1% in January, the total increase in pensions in 2022 is therefore 5%. This represents a gain of 60 euros (1% + 4%) 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.