According to the proposal of the President of France, Emmanuel Macronthe chief economist of the World Bank (WB) Indermit Gill recommended on Monday that, in view of the longer life expectancy, it is necessary to increase the retirement age in order to maintain the share of the economically active population despite the aging.

Taking France as an example, Gill recalled that in that country “a 20-year increase in life expectancy has been observed since 1950.” “Therefore, we have to expect people to work longer,” he stressed.

“There are people who refuse to work another two years despite this two-decade life extension,” Gill added, which he says is a sign of difficulty in accepting an idea he sees as a necessity.

“We see a decline in the share of the (economically) active population” in the global population of rich countries, and maintaining that percentage is necessary in order to “reduce the effects of aging on economic growth,” he said.

What does pension reform predict in France, where protests have been going on for 3 months?

“But for that someone needs to implement the necessary structural reforms,” ​​Gill insisted.

Finally adopted on March 20 without a vote in the National Assembly, after invoking Article 49-3 of the Constitution of French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the pension reform, which foresees an increase in the legal retirement age from 62 to 64, is the subject of a strong social movement of rejection that has hardened more than a week ago on the streets of France.

Since January, France has been immersed in a strong social conflict that worsened on March 16, when the liberal president decided by decree to adopt a postponement of the retirement age from 62 to 64 until 2030.

President Macron must wait for the Constitutional Council to confirm the text before he can declare it law.

Its adoption led to the radicalization of part of the opposition to the reforms, with almost daily clashes between forces of order and certain groups of protesters, especially in Paris and big cities.

A new day of mobilization against this questionable reform is scheduled for Tuesday in France. Authorities expect “650,000 to 900,000” protesters on Tuesday, according to a police source. The Ministry of the Interior estimates that 1.089 million people protested last Thursday (3.5 million, for the CGT union).