Fact Check Team: Will the US follow in France's footsteps and raise the retirement age?

WASHINGTON (TND) — French President Emmanuel Macron is under fire for raising the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 without waiting for a legislative vote.

The reform, which also requires 43 years of work to earn a full pension, sparked outrage among French workers and labor unions, setting off protests across the entire country.

Macron argues that the change is necessary to put more money into the pension system in an effort to keep it from running a deficit. This comes as France deals with lower birth rates and longer life expectancy. The French budget minister also said if they don’t make changes today, there will be more brutal moves needed in the future.

Macron bypassed parliament because he ultimately was not sure if they would vote to make the change themselves. French lawmakers were unhappy with his decision, especially since it was done without them — they even tried to vote Macron out of office on Monday. However, he survived the motion by a mere nine votes.

This isn’t a new idea though. In fact, there have been talks about pension reform for decades because France has one of the world’s lowest retirement ages and the highest spending on pensions. However, they are also taxed heavily, which is why they want to preserve the current system.

Countries including Denmark, Greece and Italy have also raised their retirement age to 67 and countries like the United Kingdom, Spain and Australia have raised it to 66.

This idea is also one that is not unique to Europe — there have been calls in the United States to take similar measures.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle do not want to cut social security but there have been calls to raise the retirement age. For example, some Republicans like Sen. John Kennedyof Louisiana, Rep. Nancy Maceof South Carolina and presidential candidate Nikki Haley,have suggested raising the retirement age for people currently in their 20s.

There is also a bipartisan coalition, led by Sens. Angus King, I-Maine, and Bill Cassidy, R-La., that is reportedly considering gradually changing the full retirement age to 70. However, unlike France or other European countries, the U.S. has not passed a law to raise the age.

The current retirement age in the U.S. depends on when you were born because it has been gradually rising. Most Americans can start receiving social security if they retire at the age of 62 but if they do that they lose 30% of their regular social security check. The full retirement age, which is when you would get full benefits, is 66 for anyone born after 19443 and 67 for anyone born after 1960.

According to a Gallup poll, the average age people normally retire is 61, which is up from 59 in 2002. However, that same poll found that as of July 2022, people that have not yet retired say they don’t expect to until they are 66, likely so they can receive full benefits.