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French parliamentary election 2012

French Socialist government restores retirement at 60 for 100,000 workers

France’s new Socialist government is set to restore the right to retire at 60 to about 100,000 workers, a symbolic partial reversal of one of the measures that previous president Nicolas Sarkozy was most proud.

Reuters/Stephane Mahe
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The cabinet, meeting Wednesday, is to restore the right to retire on a full pension at 60 to people who started work at 18 and have paid contributions for 41 years.

The decision should come into effect within three weeks.

The move was a key promise of François Hollande’s campaign to be elected president, although his failure to reverse the whole measure disappointed many trade unionists and left-wingers.

“That’s a step forward socially, after all,” commented François Chérèque, the leader of the reformist CFDT union federation. He calculated that about 100,000 people will be affected.

Sarkozy’s imposition of retirement at 62, which also limited the pension rights of millions of workers who had not paid contributions for long enough, sparked union protests but was welcomed by business and pro-austerity economists.

Sarkozy’s UMP was quick to denounce the partial reversal.

“The real question is how much it will cost and who will pay for it,” commented former budget minister Valérie Pécresse in a radio interview Wednesday.

If Chérèque’s estimate is correct, far fewer people will be affected than originally believed, meaning that the change will cost two billion euros, rather than five billion as calculated.

The government is reported to be discussing making extra changes that were not announced in Hollande’s manifesto, possibly by paying contributions for workers on maternity and/or sick leave.

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