With the aging of the population and the increase in the number of retirees, in all countries, pension systems are undergoing profound changes in order to be able, on the one hand to guarantee a minimum pension for the entire population, and on the other, to allow each employee to improve his pension according to his means.
The French system based on the principles of distribution and solidarity between citizens and generations should move towards a universal system built more on the individual contributions of each employee. What about elsewhere
The French pension system was put in place after the Second World War. In 1945, the general scheme for private sector employees was created. The basic principle is as follows:these employees must contribute to old-age insurance regardless of the amount of their salary. With the generalization of Social Security to all citizens in 1946, it was expected that the entire working population, and no longer just private sector employees, would also benefit from this old-age insurance. This reform was unsuccessful and there are still various pension schemes:the general scheme, the civil service schemes, the self-employed schemes and the special retirement schemes for seafarers, miners, employees of the SNCF, the RATP, the Banque de France or even the Paris Opera or the Comédie Française.
The French pension system is said to be "pay-as-you-go", i.e. the contributions paid by active workers pay the pensions of retirees. In other words, the pension contributions paid by those who work are immediately used to pay the pensions of retirees. It is a pension system governed by solidarity between generations. On the other hand, while contributing as an asset, employees open up rights for their future basic and supplementary pensions.
The French pay-as-you-go pension system is a so-called "contributory" system:retirees' pensions are proportional to the amount of contributions they have paid during their professional career. It is also a solidarity system. The unemployed, employees on sick leave or even parents on parental leave acquire pension rights without contributing to the pension system. In the French pension system, people aged at least 65, who have never worked or who have contributed too little, receive a specific allowance, the "minimum old age".
The pension system in the United Kingdom works very differently than in France. Pensions are in fact financed by taxes and the State then pays the elderly a modest pension, the aim of which is to allow them to obtain a minimum income. Thus, the English system dissociates the pension contributions paid by employees from the pensions received once they retire. To ensure a decent standard of living, English pensioners must save on their own beforehand.
In Sweden and Italy, the choice was made to set up a pension system based on so-called “notional account” schemes. This means that each asset sees its pension rights recorded in a personal account whose profitability is indexed to the growth of the economy. His rights depend on the contributions paid throughout his professional career. Once retired, the pension that is paid is calculated according to the accumulated rights and an indicator, the life expectancy at retirement of the generation of the insured. But the Italian and Swedish systems are pay-as-you-go systems, like in France, where contributions from working people are used to pay the pensions of retirees.
To reform its pension system, France seems to be moving towards a so-called "universal" system. The desire is first to put an end to the multitude of existing pension schemes and to create a single system for all employees. In addition, this universal retirement system should take the form of a points system, i.e. each active person contributes and accumulates a number of points each year. Once retired, the pension is calculated according to a value of this point, in euros. This points system is already the one applied in France in supplementary pension schemes. But, as in Sweden and Italy, the system of notional accounts would be favored by current leaders.
