Why the French are angry about retiring at 64

There hasn’t been a French president who didn’t try to fix the country’s gigantic state pension system, and Mr Emmanuel Macron is no exception. The 45-year-old leader is trying to erase the system’s deficit and boost the economy by

raising the minimum age for claiming a pension to 64 from 62.

And, like his predecessors, he is facing off against labour unions determined to thwart the changes, using strikes and mass protests.

Hardly. The world’s population of people aged 60 and older is expected to double by 2050, according to the World Health Organisation, even as birth rates decline. The financial strain is challenging old-age support systems and leaving many countries facing tough choices about raising the age of retirement, cutting benefits or lifting taxes.