Gradual retirement? ” Never heard of it ! », respond 40% of new retirees from the general system. And among those who have heard of it, the majority admit to not knowing what it is about, according to the latest survey on the motivations for retirement published by the Directorate of Research, Studies and Evaluation. and statistics in its 2023 report “Retirees and pensions”.
This system, which allows you to receive, before the legal retirement age, a fraction of your pension while working part-time, remains little known and little used. In 2022, only 14,266 progressive retirements were granted to former employees of the general system, out of the nearly 750,000 new direct pensions for the year. This brought the number of retirees from this plan in phased retirement to barely 25,000 at the end of 2022 (0.2% of the total workforce).
Progressive retirement, which celebrates its thirty-fiveth birthday this year, should however develop in the years to come, thanks to the latest pension reform, most of the measures of which came into force on 1er september.
Three reasons for this. First, new categories of assets will be entitled to it. “In addition to employees (including those with multiple employees and executives), traders and artisans, who were already eligible, civil servants can now also benefit from it. Next will come the liberals, lawyers included, in January 2024”explains Françoise Kleinbauer, who heads the France Retraite consulting firm.
One hundred and fifty quarters
Another novelty, explains this specialist, co-author of the book The Toolbox for preparing for retirement (Dunod, September 2023): “Progressive retirement is almost becoming a right, because, since 1er September, the employer who refuses it to an employee must justify his decision in writing, proving that the desired part-time work is not compatible with the economic activity of the company. If he does not do so within two months of the request, it will be considered accepted. »
The increase in the legal retirement age, from 62 to 64, is also likely to make gradual retirement more attractive. “This type of system is valuable for remaining employed until the new legal age while taking some time off at the end of your career. However, its growth is dependent on the acceptance of part-time work at the end of one’s career. In many companies, obstacles remain both from managers – reluctant to changes in the organization of work – and from employees themselves.continues Mme Kleinbauer.
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