By raising the legal age from 62 to 64, France appears to be following a trend that has most other European countries worried. Except that in many countries, employees can expect their departure more easily than in France.
To justify raising the statutory retirement age, we often point to what other European countries are doing, which have the same problems of fiscal balance in their systems as we do. But beware of comparisons. Particularly because our legal retirement age is cleaver, which isn’t necessarily the case elsewhere.
Except in special cases, in France, employees cannot claim their pension rights before their 62nd birthday at the moment. And from this year it will be later, depending on the rate of decline in the legal age still to be ratified by Parliament.
The legal age in Greece varies according to the number of years involved
While in most other European countries the age presented as legal or normal supports many exceptions to the rule. In Greece, for example, the two ages of departure coexist: either 67 years, for employees (eg mother) who have contributed only 15 years, or 62 years for those with at least 40 years of contributions.
However, the employee can exercise his rights before his sixty-second birthday if he agrees to receive a pension less than the one he is entitled to upon leaving at normal age. He can, for example, leave at the age of 60 on the simple condition that he has contributed for 35 years.
In Germany, you can leave before reaching the legal age, provided your pension is reduced
The principle of early retirement with a reduced pension also exists in Germany. It is often pointed out that across the Rhine, employees will again have to work progressively longer to be entitled to a full pension. The normal retirement age will be raised from 65 to 67.
But what we forget to say is that an employee who has contributed for 35 years has the right to leave before reaching the legal age. Provided, of course, that he is able to afford it financially, as his pension will be reduced by 3.6% for each missing year.
Early departures for long careers are easy in Belgium and Luxembourg
In other countries, it is also possible to leave before the normal age when one has been contributing longer than average. Like what in France is called the long career system, but with less restrictive rules. In Belgium, for example, the legal age will gradually rise from 65 to 67, much further than stipulated in the pension reform introduced on Tuesday by Elizabeth Bourne.
However, at the same time the Belgian system allows employees who started working at a young age to leave before the legal age. If they start working at the age of 16, they can claim their rights when they turn 60. And you’d be 63, if they started working at 21. Another example of flexibility, in Luxembourg the “legal” age is 65 but you can retire early at 57 if you’ve contributed for 40 years.
In Portugal, the development of legal age depends on life expectancy
Finally, there are some states that change the legal retirement age in accordance with life expectancy. Portugal is one of them. Thus, the statutory retirement age can change every year according to the development of life expectancy at 65 (an indicator ratified by the Portuguese legislator). And if life expectancy drops, as it does this year, the statutory retirement age advances.
In 2022, it was set at 66 years and 7 months, and this year it rose to 66 years and 3 months. With this highly flexible approach, which balances the system financially, each year’s retirees know they won’t be as hurt as those who left two or three years early than those who leave five years later.
Thus, the average term for receiving a pension is the same regardless of the date of birth of the retiree. And Portugal is not the only one doing this. Sweden and the Netherlands, for example, follow a similar logic.
