The Drees, the department of statistical studies of the Ministry of Health, has just delivered its latest data on life expectancy in France. And these new figures provide new insights into the demographic context to shed light on the pension reform debate.
Thus, a boy born in 2021 can now aspire to celebrate his 79th birthday and a girl live to almost 85 and a half. Over fifteen years, life expectancy at birth has thus increased by almost two years for men and slightly more than one year for women. The historic gender gap is closing.
Between 2018 and 2021, older people saw their life expectancy fall
However, this increase between 2006 and 2021 is misleading, because before the Covid pandemic, life expectancy was higher. And this is especially striking when we observe the evolution of life expectancy at 65 years of age. Between 2006 and 2018, young retirees had gained between a year and a year and a half to live, depending on their sex. But between 2018 and 2021 their life expectancy has been reduced: almost five months less for men and just under a month for women.
A drop obviously linked to the many deaths among the elderly with Covid in recent years. After the pandemic, we can think that in the coming years life expectancy will rise again. And therefore the number of months young retirees will receive on average should start to rise again.
But another new trend appears in the figures just revealed by DREES: it is the marked increase in disability-free life expectancy, that is, the number of years we can expect to live without being limited in our daily activities.
Since 2015, young retirees have seen their healthy life expectancy increase by two years
A great change for young retirees who have been able to see, together with their parents, how the ailments and diseases linked to aging have been reducing their ability to make the most of their retirement.
In 2015, a 65-year-old man could expect to live without disability for, on average, almost 9.5 years. And a woman of the same age just over a year older. Six years later, in 2021, young retirees, regardless of gender, have gained almost two years of healthy life with an average of 11 years and four months for men and more than 12 and a half years for women.
Is it linked to advances in medicine, prevention, the lifestyle of the elderly? Or the fact that the legal retirement age hasn’t changed since 2010? This is a point that deserves a study in its own right.
Source: BFM TV
