VANEK SMITH: Salanie says some kind of reform is needed for the pension system. SALANIE: LVMH is an obvious target, a symbolic target. VANEK SMITH: Salanie says that's part of why, in previous weeks, protesters have stormed the French stock exchange and the headquarters of luxury good-maker LVMH, which is run by Bernard Arnault, one of the richest people in the world. SALANIE: They think they should be paying a higher share. SALANIE: I mean, they dislike fat cats in general and. Economist Bernard Salanie says that idea is at the heart of why many protesters are calling for pensions to be funded by raising taxes on the wealthy, those for whom the economy is working quite well, instead of putting the burden on working-class French people, who are now being asked to sacrifice more of their lives to a system that's supporting them less and less. But instead, he says, the protests are against this idea that we all live to serve the economy, to make it grow, instead of the economy serving us, making our lives better. Tekaya says there is this misconception people have that the French don't want to work. VANEK SMITH: You're in your office still? That's quite late. TEKAYA: Yes, I'm in my office, so it's fine. Of course, as we were talking, I realized it was about 7 p.m. Tekaya says these last few weeks have been taking a stand against work encroaching on more and more of life. VANEK SMITH: The relation with work is changing. MAHER TEKAYA: The relation with work is changing. But that is part of the problem, says Maher Tekaya with CFDT, one of France's main unions. He says the reform is needed to make France's economy more dynamic. After all, France's pensions will be $2 billion in the red by the end of the year and 10 billion in the red by 2025. VANEK SMITH: President Emmanuel Macron says raising the age of retirement is necessary. That's how they want to live their life, and that is being taken away from them. SALANIE: The French are considering that this right to retire early is part of their culture. The U.S., by contrast, devotes about 7% of economic output to retirees. About 15% of the country's economic output goes to paying for pension benefits to retired people. And France puts its money where its mouth is. VANEK SMITH: Life starts when you retire, when you finally get to take from the economy you've been giving to for decades. I've heard people talk about, oh, when I'm retired, I will do this and that - like, life actually starting when you retire. He grew up in France.īERNARD SALANIE: Ever since I was a kid. Bernard Salanie is an economist at Columbia. VANEK SMITH: From Paris to Marseille to Strasbourg, protesters gathered in public squares by the thousands, banging pots and pans together, chanting, waving flags.
STACEY VANEK SMITH, BYLINE: In the latest act of protest against the raising of the retirement age, French protesters got loud.
More protests are expected on May 1, France's Labor Day. It's all to show discontent over President Macron raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. Protesters all over the country have revived a traditional form of protest known as the casserolade, or pots-and-pans protest. We love diversity and you should too.Protests over raising the age of retirement continue in France. Please note that we are an equal opportunities employer and do not discriminate.
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