A society with most young people is very different from a aging society.Young society can harvest the so -called demographic dividend, and aging society must bear increasingly heavy social expenditure load.All countries that implement the pension system are now facing this big problem that has been aging with the population, but most of them cannot face this reality.France is an example. Do not accept reality, do not change, just want to maintain the status quo. As a result, the entire society is overwhelming due to pension reform.

The French pension system is quite complicated, and it is relatively strange for us. For example, how much workers have to pay each month and how much retirees can receive each month, they all have different computing equations.To put it simply, its main pillar is the "Pay-As-You-GO) system.It is the pension of all the payables that are still working now to pay the pension of the previous generation of retirees.

When there are more people in the society than the retirement population, the total amount of the amount paid exceeds the total amount of the payment, naturally there is no problem.But when the population ages to a certain degree, more and more people with pensions, but when there are fewer and fewer people pay, the problem comes.The biggest problem is that the pension is not available, and most retirees are expected to be pension, and there are no or few pension savings.

Several presidents of France have known that this is a time -bomber, and also tried to reform, including extending the retirement age, but they all failed due to strong opposition.After the current President Macron came to power in 2017, he was determined to implement reform, which also caused a large -scale demonstration.After the crown disease epidemic in 2019, the reform was suspended.After the epidemic, Macron ignored the opposition of the left and right political parties and trade unions, and used Article 49.3 of the Constitution to give the president's power to the president.The bill was approved by the Constitutional Committee and the president was signed on April 15.

The key clauses of the

The bill include the beginning from the end of this summer to 2030, and gradually increased the existing retirement age from 62 to 64; and from 2027, retirees have only been paying the society for 43 years.Under the premise, we can receive full pensions.The Constitutional Committee also rejected the proposal to hold a referendum on the Act.

Who will fill the deficit

Why did the French oppose increasing the retirement age?French political parties and trade union groups have many opinions. Each of its own reason is that they are unwilling to face reality.Just like our opposition party here is two percentage points against consumption taxes. The French union says that money is not enough to find other places, including levying higher taxes from rich people.

But can you solve various problems with the aging of the population?The pension system is undoubtedly a good system. The problem is that the ideal is full and the reality is very skinny.As mentioned earlier, when there are fewer and fewer people who work, and more and more retired people, this system must face the problem of incompetent.Who is filled with deficit?Can the government increase taxes, but is it sustainable?Even if you increase the retirement age, you can only delay the "Thunder" time, unless you reduce the amount of pension.Of course, this will also be strongly opposed.

Realistic, according to data from the European Union Commission in 2019, the average retirement age of French workers is 62.3 years, which is far lower than other European countries.64.3 years old, Spain 64.2 years old.On the whole, the average retirement age of the EU people is 63.8 years.The legal retirement age in Germany will be adjusted to 67 years old in 2029.Due to the shortage of manpower, the fertility rate is low, and the population aging, some people believe that the retirement age should be delayed to 70 years old.

The French pension system previously stipulated that a person must work for 42 years to get a full pension.Therefore, if a person starts at the age of 22, it will not be eligible until the age of 64.But most people are unwilling to accept the way to extend the age of retirement.Although Macron broke through the level, the French Federation of Trade Unions intends to launch a rally on the Labor Day on May 1st and continue to protest. Prior to this, he did not accept Macron's dialogue invitation.For the opposition party, this is a good opportunity to enter.Some people lamented that France was an irrefutable country.

But the problem of pensions is not unique to France, but a common problem faced by all countries that implement the same system and the population is aging.Because this is a common system that people are accustomed to, it is also very tricky to reform. Most people think that this is the benefit they should enjoy, how can it be modified casually.From the perspective of personal interests, this is not wrong. The problem is that the influence of the population aging is not just the individual, but the all aspects of the entire society, including the country's economy, finance, medical care, and various infrastructure.Just one.Therefore, it is not so easy to deal with the challenge of aging.

On April 11th, Premier Li Xianlong compiled the new English book Singapore aging by three national universities: Singapore Ageing: Issues and Challenges Ahead) pointed out that it is based on European countries.For example, among EU member states, more than a quarter of the population is retirees. They are mainly national pensions. Each country is used in pension expenditures, accounting for about 13% of the total domestic GDP.EssenceThis is a very amazing number.Without significant reforms, European countries' expenses in pensions will continue to increase.But it is really difficult to reform.

The pension system has inherent defects. With the increasing retirees, the burden on national finances will inevitably become heavier.The Singapore government has a foresight, so it has gradually eliminated the pension system enjoyed by this civil servant for a long time, and replaced it with the provident fund system.Over the years, the provident fund system has also been improved, so now that there is a lifelong income program (CPF Life), which can ensure the need for pension.But not everyone has sufficient provident fund, so the social security network still needs.

The problem of aging and aging is multi -faceted, not just a matter of money.For example, the health problems of the elderly population, medical problems, care problems, travel problems, etc. are all new problems, and there must be new countermeasures.It is not possible to hold the disadvantage.It is inevitable when changing, such as extending the working age, adjusting some tax rates (such as consumption tax), etc. This is reality. If you do not face reality, the problem will only get bigger and bigger.French experience is a negative textbook.

The author is a former journalist, a former member of the Congress