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French youths worry about pension reform
Source: Agencies |
September 27, 2010, Monday
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RETIREMENT is a distant horizon for a 23-year-old, but that has not stopped French youths from bringing their anxiety about the future into the heart of a protest movement against pension reform.
The thousands who marched in protests last week magnified the fears of a generation facing high joblessness, years of fiscal austerity, an ageing population and the prospect of working much longer careers than their parents, analysts said.
Their participation caught French media by surprise, coming ahead of the start of classes at many major universities and despite government efforts over the summer to appease students by boosting grant payouts.
"Why are young people in the streets?" asked a banner headline in Le Parisien daily on the day of the strikes.
Anne Muxel, an expert in youth movements at Sciences Po' university in Paris, said youthful concerns about pension reform were symptomatic of deeper anxiety about their prospects.
"This is a generation that feels deep anxiety about its future, that is afraid," she said. "It's a general anxiety that encompasses the job market and (youths') professional prospects, but also in the longer term the idea of retirement."
High social costs and rigid labour laws make employers reluctant to offer youths long-term work contracts. Studies are long, and few students hold jobs. On average, French youths start their career at 27, later than in Germany or Britain.
This has fed youths' worries about how long they will have to contribute to their pensions, as the reform calls for extending the pay-in period to 41.5 years from 40.5 by 2020.
Many argue that an ageing population will force them to work for longer and longer - more than the two-year increase called for by the reform - to pay for an ever larger pool of pensioners from the baby-boom generation.
"This reform is meant to be led in the name of young people but we will be the hardest hit," said Marion Oderda, 24, a student at Paris XII university who joined the protest.
The government has said that without its reform, the pension system will lose 45 billion euros (US$60 billion) per year by 2020. A draft of the reform bill has been approved by the lower house of Parliament with final passage expected next month.
The thousands who marched in protests last week magnified the fears of a generation facing high joblessness, years of fiscal austerity, an ageing population and the prospect of working much longer careers than their parents, analysts said.
Their participation caught French media by surprise, coming ahead of the start of classes at many major universities and despite government efforts over the summer to appease students by boosting grant payouts.
"Why are young people in the streets?" asked a banner headline in Le Parisien daily on the day of the strikes.
Anne Muxel, an expert in youth movements at Sciences Po' university in Paris, said youthful concerns about pension reform were symptomatic of deeper anxiety about their prospects.
"This is a generation that feels deep anxiety about its future, that is afraid," she said. "It's a general anxiety that encompasses the job market and (youths') professional prospects, but also in the longer term the idea of retirement."
High social costs and rigid labour laws make employers reluctant to offer youths long-term work contracts. Studies are long, and few students hold jobs. On average, French youths start their career at 27, later than in Germany or Britain.
This has fed youths' worries about how long they will have to contribute to their pensions, as the reform calls for extending the pay-in period to 41.5 years from 40.5 by 2020.
Many argue that an ageing population will force them to work for longer and longer - more than the two-year increase called for by the reform - to pay for an ever larger pool of pensioners from the baby-boom generation.
"This reform is meant to be led in the name of young people but we will be the hardest hit," said Marion Oderda, 24, a student at Paris XII university who joined the protest.
The government has said that without its reform, the pension system will lose 45 billion euros (US$60 billion) per year by 2020. A draft of the reform bill has been approved by the lower house of Parliament with final passage expected next month.
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