• The French government announced the new age limit.
• This r change instantly sparked strikes and protests from unions.
• Four out of every five people are against raising the retirement age.

The government announced on Tuesday that the French should continue working until age 64 before retiring. This unpopular change to the pension system instantly sparked strikes and protests from unions.

In France, the opportunity to retire at a young age is highly valued, and the reform will be a significant test of President Emmanuel Macron’s capacity to bring about change as popular unrest over the cost of living grows.

The reform’s parliamentary passage won’t be simple. According to the government of Macron, it is critical to avoid a deficit in the pension budget. The overhaul, according to unions, is unfair and unneeded.

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After trade union officials decided on a nationwide walkout for January 19, which will launch a string of strikes and protests, Laurent Berger, the chairman of the moderate, reform-minded CFDT union, told reporters, “Nothing justifies such a brutal reform.”

Four out of every five people, according to an Odoxa poll, are against raising the retirement age.

“I’m well aware that changing our pension system raises questions and fears among the French,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne had told a news conference shortly before.

“We offer today a project to balance our pension system, a project that is fair,” she said, adding that France had to face reality.

When Macron assumed office at the Elysee Palace in 2017, reforming the pension system was one of the main tenets of his reformist platform. However, he abandoned his initial endeavor in 2020 as the government fought to suppress Covid-19.

The second try won’t be any simpler.

“It’s one slap in the face after another,” said 56-year-old Frederic Perdriel during a small protest in the western city of Rennes ahead of Borne’s announcement. “There are other ways to finance pensions than raising the retirement age.”

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