Despite months of social movements, demonstrations, legislative battles and an appeal to the Constitutional Council, the pension reform will come into force, as planned, from September 1. Most of the implementing decrees were published during the summer – the others should be published between September and November, according to the planned schedule. The point on what will change now.

Raising the retirement age

This is the heart of the reform wanted by the government, and undoubtedly the most contested measure, validated by decree 2023-436 of June 3, 2023: the retirement age at full rate (except in special cases) shifted two years, from 62 to 64. From Friday, people born on or after September 1, 1961 will have to wait 62 years and 3 months to claim retirement; this legal age will be gradually shifted by three months each year, reaching 64 in 2030.

The postponement of the retirement age is adapted for long careers: those who started working between the ages of 20 and 21 will be able to leave a year earlier than the others, at 63; those who started before age 20, at age 62; those who started before age 18, at age 60; and the few to have worked before age 16, at age 58.

The reform also accelerates the extension of the contribution period initially provided for by the Touraine law of 2014. To obtain a full pension, it will be necessary to contribute not forty-two years, but forty-three years from 2027, instead of 2035. This increase will also take place gradually, at a rate of one additional quarter per year. The cancellation of the discount is maintained at age 67 (as before the reform) for contributors who will not have all the required quarters.

Gradual end of four special diets

“The special regimes no longer suit the reality of the country,” assured Emmanuel Macron during the 2022 presidential campaign. The reform, confirmed by four decrees published on July 30, puts an end to several of these particular situations, but only for workers recruited after September 1. This concerns the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens, the electricity and gas industries (such as EDF), the clerks and employees of notaries and the Banque de France, whose new recruits now come under the general scheme, and Agirc-Arrco for their complementary pension. The new agents of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese) also see their special scheme disappear: they will now be affiliated to the general scheme, and to the complementary scheme of the public service (Ircantec).

People who were already in the workforce of these organizations before September 1 will continue to benefit from the special regimes, under the so-called “grandfather clause”. However, they are not entirely spared by the reform: their legal retirement age and the insurance period imposed to obtain a full pension will gradually increase, but only from 1 January 2025.

As for the other special diets, they are maintained. This is the case, for example, of that of the Comédie Française, the Paris Opera, sailors or senators – which can only be modified by the office of the Senate.

Revaluation of small pensions

To defend the social aspect of its reform, the government had initially suggested that no pension could be less than 1,200 euros net. But in reality, only a minority of the retirees concerned should reach this amount – around 250,000 people this year, to which 10,000 to 20,000 new retirees will have to be added each year.

The government assured at the beginning of August that 1.7 million retirees would benefit from a “revaluation of their pension” (without specifying the amount), but that only a part (700,000) would receive these sums from the fall. Subsequent resets are due to take place in spring 2024, retroactive to September 1, 2023.

Until now, the minimum pension was adjusted annually in line with inflation. With the reform, it will now be indexed to the minimum wage. The objective is for the gross pension at the end of a full career to reach at least 85% of the net minimum wage.

The inhabitants of Mayotte, affiliated to a different scheme, had been forgotten in the initial government project, but they will benefit from a revaluation of the same order as small full pensions thanks to an amendment from the Senate. The publication of the decree relating to Mahoran pensions is “envisaged at the beginning of September 2023”, according to the government’s timetable.

Several other provisions

Among the other measures that come into force, specific insurance is created for family carers, on the model of old-age insurance for stay-at-home parents. This measure expands the list of people who will be able to obtain trimesters when they take care leave.

Also comes into force the premium for mothers and fathers, who will be able to earn more contributions between the ages of 63 and 64 if they have already accumulated the annuities required for a departure at full rate.