2023-06-14 10:27:35
Pension reform has been officially signed into law in France, and opponents have now exhausted all legal and political avenues – including another vote of no-confidence in Prime Minister Elisabeth Bornewhich did not succeed.
As such, the plan to raise France’s minimum standard retirement age from 62 will go into effect starting September 1st. There are still certain professions – mostly physically demanding ones such as the military – that retain an earlier retirement age, but for most people the standard retirement age will gradually rise to 64.
Prior to September 2023, the minimum retirement age is 62, and to qualify for a full pension (at the maximum rate of 50 percent), you must have worked a certain number of quarters (quarters) in France.
Raising the age to 64 means that workers in France will have to make 43 years of contributions – or 172 quarters – to qualify for a full rate pension.
People who started work early – eg at the age of 16 – can retire on a full pension before they reach 64, as long as they have the required 43 years of work.
People who started work late – for example after prolonged studies or – or those who had time out of the workplace can retire on a full pension once they hit 67, even if they don’t have the required 43 years of work.
If you’ve worked a mixed career – part of it in France and part in another country – see below for how combined pensions work.
Timetable for changes
The retirement age will be raised gradually between September 2023 and 2030, so the exact number of quarters you will need to have worked depends on the year you were born.
Those born in 1960 need 167 quarters (41 years and 9 months of work), while in contrast, those born after 1973 will need 172 quarters (43 years). The minimum retirement age will slowly go up starting from September 2023 until 2030, when it will reach 64 for everyone.
You can see how many quarters you will need to have contributed in order to qualify for a full pension in France as a result of the reform in the table below.
Personalised estimate
The French government has also a personalised pension website where you can find out your entitlement under the French system – it has now been updated to include the changes from September. You can find it at info-retraite.fr and if you have worked and paid pension contributions for more than three months in France, you should be able to log in using your social security number.
If you click on ‘Réforme’ on the right hand side of the screen, you can do the simulator that asks whether or not your current retirement plans will be impacted by the reform, and if so how.
READ MORE: Ask the experts: What foreigners living in France need to know about French pensions
You can also click on “my retirement estimate” to simulate when you would be able to retire in France, as well as what your monthly pension would be when retiring at the minimum age versus the maximum age.
The Local has created a guide on how to calculate your French pension that you can consult when using the website.
Keep in mind that periods of unemployment, maternity leave or absence because of long-term illness or accidents at work are taken into account and these credits count towards determining your total number of trimestres.
What about foreigners and people who have worked in other countries in addition to France?
Anyone who has worked at least one quarter (quarter) in France has begun putting money toward France’s pay-as-you-go pension system. This means that even working just two years in France could qualify you for a French pension – though the amount would be tiny.
Importantly for foreigners who might be lacking a ‘full’ career in France, the maximum age remains at 67.
If you have worked in both France and another country, the calculation for the total amount of your pension will depend on whether the other country you worked in is part of the EU/EEA or whether it has an existing social security agreement (SSA) with France.
Assuming the other country you worked in was either part of the EU/ EEA or has a SSA agreement with France, then the main change due to pension reform will be needing to check your age of eligibility on the French side. You should consult the table above if you were born before 1973.
READ MORE: Pensions: What should I expect if I worked in both France and a non-EU country?
For example, if you were born after 1973 and worked in both Denmark and in France, then you could start receiving your French pension at 64 years old, but you will still have to wait until you have reached Denmark’s legal retirement age (66 to 68) to start getting the Danish portion as well. In this situation, you would have had to wait to reach the legal age in Denmark regardless of France’s pension reform.
But if you are a woman and you worked in both Austria and France, then you may be able to benefit from your Austrian pension before qualifying for your French one, as the current minimum retirement age for women in Austria is 60 years old (though this is being gradually raised as well).
The sum for your pension will still be determined by the two countries working together to determine how much you will be owed from France, and how much will come from the other country. This formula will depend on the nature of the social security agreement between the two nations, however.
Once calculated, you will receive one sum from France, and another from the other country you worked in. Keep in mind, that this may mean you will need access to a bank account in the other country to receive your pension payout.
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