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No, the French government would not accept not being able to pay pensions. But the French government would still be able to pay pensions, even if everyone were

No, the French government would not accept not being able to pay pensions. But the French government would still be able to pay pensions, even if everyone were self-employed. The self-employed do already pay into pensions. Additionally, while there are currently 42 different pension plans in France, depending on your line of work, under Macron there's an evolution towards having just one government pension plan for everyone. The new system will be based on building up points which can be cashed in on retirement. It will probably start for those who retire starting in 2035. So in the future the pension plan will be the same for everyone, self-employed or employee.

timwaagh 7y ago
Maybe I'm mistaken. I thought a pay it forward system like what we have here is pretty unique. So workers do not pay for pensioners directly then? At any rate it can't be much what they're paying because the rates are too low.
- smcphile 7y ago
  I don’t follow your reasoning, but just for information the state pension plans of both the Netherlands and France work on a “pay as you go” basis. Throughout your career, you build up the right to a certain pension in each of the different pension plans you’ve been paying into. When you retire, those who are still working and paying into that plan pay for your pension (as you did when you were working). I can’t vouch that it works this way for all 42 different plans, as I haven’t checked, but I’ve worked both as an employee and as a freelance consultant and it works that way for the 4 different pension plans that I’ve paid into. And, as I said, in the future there will be only one state plan for everyone (plus various private plans as well, of course). So I see no problem with everyone in France being self-employed and France continuing to pay out pensions.

timwaagh 7y ago

Maybe I'm mistaken. I thought a pay it forward system like what we have here is pretty unique. So workers do not pay for pensioners directly then? At any rate it can't be much what they're paying because the rates are too low.

smcphile 7y ago
I don’t follow your reasoning, but just for information the state pension plans of both the Netherlands and France work on a “pay as you go” basis. Throughout your career, you build up the right to a certain pension in each of the different pension plans you’ve been paying into. When you retire, those who are still working and paying into that plan pay for your pension (as you did when you were working). I can’t vouch that it works this way for all 42 different plans, as I haven’t checked, but I’ve worked both as an employee and as a freelance consultant and it works that way for the 4 different pension plans that I’ve paid into. And, as I said, in the future there will be only one state plan for everyone (plus various private plans as well, of course). So I see no problem with everyone in France being self-employed and France continuing to pay out pensions.