Inter-generational solidarity. They feed, vis-à-vis the program of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a number of grievances. And for good reason ! In the eyes of many economists – but also political opponents of the leader of France Insoumise – the project of the New popular, ecological and social union (NUPES) is not realistic. Among the main criticisms, recalls Le Parisien on its site, is that of pensions. The former socialist promises to bring the legal age of departure back to 60… subject to arriving at Matignon following the legislative elections, as he aims to do.
But what is the problem, exactly, with a return to retirement at 60 without a discount? Why raise an indictment against the official face of the NUPES, even though such a reform had already been carried out in the past? Explanations.
One of the first criticisms put forward is that of funding. Such a reform, insist the opponents, would be very expensive… Which Jean-Luc Mélenchon does not deny. On the set of BFMTV, during the election campaign, he had also explained that the transformation of the French model of intergenerational solidarity was one of the main points of expenditure of the program.
For Olivier Passet, specialist in economic policies for the private research institute Xerfi interviewed by the Ile-de-France daily, we will have to expect “probably more than 30 billion euros in the long term”. What makes the whole program inapplicable? Perhaps. But this is far from the only concern raised by the most doubtful.
The other big concern, at least in the eyes of the most skeptical, concerns this time the contributions. Indeed, Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposes a pension reform bringing the legal retirement age to 60, subject to being able to justify 40 annual contributions.
Unfortunately, due to a later entry into the labor market, this means that it will not be possible for a majority of workers to take advantage of the promised retirement at age 60. Not without, at the very least, amputating a potential part of the retirement pension. Attention ! This is not a discount, which is removed in the Future in Common. Simply, the last years of work are generally the most rewarding of the career. They therefore count for a great deal in the calculation of the pension.
These two reproaches, which are the cost and the wolf behind the reform, tend to gather a majority of critics. That being said, some still argue in favor of the project, which they consider viable, continues Le Parisien.
In fact, as Planet has already been able to explain, Jean-Luc Mélenchon has identified three avenues on which the financing of retirement at age 60 is based. He returned to these solutions long, wide and across. “We only have to put the salary of women at the level of that of men and social security contributions will pay the difference”, he sometimes reminds. “Another solution ? There are others. A million more jobs. If there are a million more jobs, we finance retirement at 60 in 40 annuities”, he further argued. And to insist: “Is there another solution? Yes. A two-point surcharge on all salaries above 3,400 euros.”
Moreover, insist the supporters of the Insoumis, the Pensions Orientation Council is not as alarmist as the main opponents of the project can be. Finally, the question could be elsewhere: it concerns public health (and will generate as many gains on this side, they emphasize).
