Protests break out in France as government seeks to overhaul pensions

This appeared in The Millennial Source

France is seeing prolonged protests in the face of President Emmanuel Macron’s attempt to overhaul the nation’s pension system. Macron has promised to make the system less complicated and fairer, but a number of unions argue that the changes would represent a reduction in pensions.As a result, over 800,000 people have protested and a nationwide transportation strike has created chaos.

The protests began on December 5 and have continued ever since. Protests have been backed by the country’s labor unions that oppose the government’s move to update the pension system. The French Republic’s government should be providing the details of the pension reform on Wednesday, December 11, which was expected to have been preceded by a union-organized street protest.

A complicated pension system

France’s pension system is a complex collection of rules that ensures workers receive payments after they retire. It is considered to be one of the most generous in the world, yet it involves a range of separate systems for different industries. As a result, Macron ran for president in 2017 with one of the centerpieces of his campaign being his promise to overhaul the system and simplify it.