Do retirees make enough money? A number of them are struggling very hard to earn their bread, since 9.5% of them live on less than 1,102 euros per month and per person. Some, as is the case of Bahia, do not even receive 500 euros per month. “I’m hungry, but I keep my dignity,” explained the sixty-year-old living in Woippy (Moselle, Grand-Est), in our columns. Alas, as Planet has already been able to remind us, this situation is unfortunately not as rare as it seems: the Terre de Senior site recently conducted a survey of its Internet users. 75% of them explained that they did not have enough to live decently.

In fact, it must be remembered, retirees are not the most affected by poverty in France. Overall, precariousness mainly concerns 16-24 year olds, 22% of whom do not manage to earn enough to reach the poverty line. By way of comparison, in the national average (which refers to all age groups), the poverty rate is estimated at 14%, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee ). However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t worry!

The fact is, Capital reminds us, that the purchasing power of retirees is eroding. The Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES) has just published its annual overview of the standard of living in retirement and this is cause for concern… and for good reason!

In constant euros, retirees have to deal with less. And this is all the more true for all those who have not yet liquidated their rights: from one generation to another, as the economist Alexandre Delaigue explained in our columns, the level of life falls further once cessation of activity has occurred. This is the very consequence of wanting to maintain the weight of pensions at 14% of GDP even though the number of insured is increasing…

It is not because the standard of living of retirees is falling that pensions appear lower, recalls Capital, however; based on information from the DREES. “Pensions for all schemes combined increase by 0.5% on average between the end of 2020 and the end of 2021 in current euros, but fall by 2.2% in constant euros due to high inflation”, specifies the official body. .

To fully understand the nature of the problem, it is necessary to make the difference between current euros and constant euros. The first designate the absolute amount of the retirement pension, while the second designate what it is possible to buy with this same amount. In short, retirees do not receive less strictly speaking, but what they receive today does not allow them to buy as much as in the past.

For the time being, Emmanuel Macron has undertaken to revalue the retirement pensions of French women and men who have already liquidated their rights. This, as Planet was able to explain, will increase by around 4% in the summer. Similarly, he has promised to increase the minimum contribution of former workers who have contributed enough to claim the full rate as part of his pension reform. For them, there is therefore nothing to worry about. For others, however…

The trend has been reversing for almost five years now, continues Capital. Since 2017, explains the DREES, “the pension of new retirees has been slightly lower than that of all retirees”.