Despite record protests: French Senate votes for higher retirement age 1,400 murders of women: Femicides in Brazil at highest level since 2015

Despite all the protests against the pension reform, the French Senate has approved a gradual increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. On Thursday evening, 201 senators voted for an accompanying article, 115 rejected it.

However, the project of the center government under President Emmanuel Macron is not yet sealed. The National Assembly, as the second chamber of parliament, has yet to agree. The government has recently struggled to find supporters for the reform.

The French government wants to gradually increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. In addition, the number of payment years required for a full pension must increase more rapidly. The unions find the project unfair and ruthless. There have been massive strikes and protests against the reform in recent weeks.

The retirement age is currently 62 years. In fact, retirement starts later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to be entitled to a full pension continue to work longer. At age 67 there is then a pension with no deductions, no matter how long it has been paid – this is what the government wants to keep. She wants to increase the monthly minimum pension to around 1,200 euros.

The Senate will discuss the reform later this week. A committee of senators and MPs will then try to work out a compromise between the two chambers of parliament. Due to time constraints, the National Assembly did not vote on the central article on the higher retirement age. Should the project fail in parliament, the government still has the option to order implementation of the reform. (saw/sda/dpa)