In its reform of the pension system presented this Tuesday, the Government has placed the labor insertion of the elderly as a priority.
According to human resources directors (HRD), age is, in fact, one of the main criteria for discrimination in companies. Therefore, the employability of older people is, more than ever, a major issue.
“The objective of full employment is only achievable if we improve the employment rate of the elderly”, declared Olivier DussoptMinister of Labour, last October at BFM Business.
However, France is one of the Eurozone countries where the employment rate of the elderly is lowest. Dares (the statistics service of the Ministry of Labour) has just updated its figures.
56% of people aged 55 to 64 are employed
In 2021, 56% of people aged 55 to 64 are employed (compared to 60.5% at the European Union level) and 59.7% in activity (employment, RSA, unemployment benefits), i.e. , one point more than in 2020. France is thus ranked 16th among the 27 countries of the Union.
However, Dares points out that “these rates are at their highest point since 1975.” “Between 2014 and 2021, the participation of the elderly in employment increases by 7.7 points, while that of retirees decreases, after the pension reform,” she explains in a note.
“The employment rate of the elderly has been increasing since the year 2000, in connection with the pension reforms that extended the contribution periods and then delayed the age of eligibility. Between 2000 and 2021, the employment rate and the activity of the elderly advanced 25 and 27 points respectively, that is, on average a little more than one point per year,” explains Dares.
Between 2014 and 2021, of the total number of people aged 55 to 64, the proportion of employed persons increased 7.7 points.
After 60 years, a plummeting employment rate
For les femmes, ces taux pour les 55-64 ans sont toutefois plus bas que ceux des hommes avec 54.3% pour le taux d’emploi et 57.9% pour l’activité contre 57.7% et 61.7% for men.
And if the trend is improving, Dares points out that from the age of 60, “the employment rate is in sharp decline” with 35.5% and 20% from the age of 64. The employment rate of 60-64 years is also well below the European average (-10.9 points).
“This decline is mainly the consequence of gradual transitions towards retirement: up to age 55, the proportion of retirees is marginal, while at age 60, around one person in six is retired, and two in three are 63 years”. “We can read.
As for the unemployment rate of the elderly, in 2021 it was 6.3%, slightly lower than before the health crisis (6.8% in 2019). It is still lower than for all assets, even if the gap has narrowed since 2003.
senior indices
“It increases with age (from 6% for 55-59 years to 6.9% for 60-64 years), unlike the proportion of unemployed (number of unemployed between active and inactive), which decreases. This is due to the decrease in the proportion of older people who are active from the age of 60, with the progressive movement towards retirement. The unemployment rate for older people has been decreasing since 2015. Since 2003 it has always been lower than that of the group of active people between the ages of 15 and 64, but the gap tends to narrow: between -3.5 and -4 points from 2003 to 2006, it is -1.6 points in 2021,” says Dares.
To improve the employability of the elderly, the pension reform proposes in particular an “elderly people index” to be published for all companies with more than 1,000 employees as of this year and 300 employees as of 2024.
It will allow “promoting good practices and denouncing bad ones”. Failure to do so may result in penalties.
Source: BFM TV
