“Frankly, they are not the retirees that we must attack … or the employees also,” said Nadine, retired for 3 years. This former official opposes the measures proposed by the Government to reduce the public deficit.
François Bayrou presented a 2026 budget plan to save almost 44 billion euros. Among his proposals, several concerns of retirees. First, the freezing of pensions in 2026 at the same level as in 2025 (as part of the “white year”), which means that they will not be revalued according to inflation.
The most sensitive to this gel are the most modest. “We always write to the little ones, we have a retirement of 1,000 euros for two, not each,” says a retiree, interviewed in BFMTV. “They are always the same people who press the belt,” he denounces.
“It’s the open door to start again in the future”
“The result is that we will reduce food purchases, in exits, since we did not do much, on vacation too, today it is our daughter that takes us,” adds his wife.
Inflation must be reduced to 1% in 2025, according to the projections of the bank of France, which would be equivalent to a drop in purchasing power of 120 euros in 2026 for this couple. According to the calculations of the economist of Ofce Pierre Madec, on average, retirees would see their reduced income by 350 euros per household, or about 1% of their standard of living.
Nadine for its part fears above all that the operation was repeated in the following years. “What scares me is that if the government freezes pensions for a year, it is the open door to start again in the future, the following governments will not be ashamed,” worries him. She calls to “get money from large companies or large fortunes with Zucman’s tax, for example.”
A more redistributive measurement
But pension freezing is not the only measure that will affect retirees. The government also plans to eliminate tax reduction of 10% of retirees for “professional expenses” (up to 4,399 euros per household) and replace it with a 2,000 euros package. This measure must bring one billion euros.
Specifically, with its 22,000 euros in annual net income, Nadine could deduce 2,200 euros of your statement. If the 2026 budget is voted, you can deduce 2,000 euros.
This measure has the advantage of being more socially than the freezing of pensions because it does not affect the most modest retirees, which are not taxes. According to a study by the OFCE in January, the end of the allocation, unlike the intensity of frost, would have a more redistributive impact with a strong impact on the richest retirees of 20%.
But the retiree indicates another consequence: with this reduction reform, the income declared to taxes will increase. However, its mutual insurance subscription is calculated according to this amount.
“The dramatic state of our public finances”
In addition, as a white year, the Income Tax Scale will not improve according to inflation. Mechanically, taxes of a certain number of retirees will increase, therefore, they will increase.
A study by the OFCE published in October 2024 had estimated that the freezing of the income tax scale would lead to households close to the average living standard of a loss between 50 and 100 euros per year and that the 380,000 French people who do not pay the income tax would pass in the second section and, therefore, would begin to pay a little.
But for Sylvain, a history professor now retired, the measures presented by the Government are absolutely necessary “given the dramatic state of our public finances.”
The retiree does not reluctant to see their taxes increase. According to their estimates, with an annual income of 120,000 euros per year for two people, the couple could pay 3,000 euros in additional taxes with the new budget measures 2026. “It would be necessary to verify, of course,” he warns, but participating in the general effort does not raise any problem.
A comparable standard of living and general population
“Especially because the average standard of living of retirees is quite high in France, at least when the house is paid and the children left, we necessarily have a less bad situation than a family with children to feed and a loan to be reimbursed,” he observes.
In fact, if we only take into account income per person, the standard of living standards is generally equivalent to that of the entire population. Turn around 2,200 euros per person according to Insee.
And the report is reversed even when real estate assets are taken into account. Retirees are mostly owners of their accommodation (70%) and should not pay for rent. By repercussions this variable, the standard of living standards is this time 5% higher than that of the entire population (but no higher than that of assets).
Obviously, this figure remains an average that hides very different realities depending on the person and their level of pension. Despite this, the poverty rate of retirees remains lower than that of the general population (10% compared to 14.5% in 2021), according to Insee.
Source: BFM TV
