French president raises retirement age without vote — Where does the issue stand in US?

French President Emmanuel Macron raised the retirement age in France on Thursday, from 62 to 64, without waiting for a legislative vote.

The move sparked widespread outrage in the French Parliament and across the country as protesters took to the streets to push against the new law, which they have been demonstrating against since January. The bill to raise the retirement age passed the French Senate on Tuesday, but Macron had no guarantee that the bill would pass in the lower chamber on Thursday, The Associated Press reported.

Minutes before the National Assembly was scheduled to take a vote on the bill, the Cabinet decided to invoke the special power outlined in Article 49.3 of the French Constitution, the AP reported. The power allows the government to push through a bill without a vote in the National Assembly, which then has 24 hours to decide whether to file a no-confidence motion against the government.

When Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne attempted to tell the National Assembly the government’s decision, left-wing members started to sing the national anthem to delay her speech, according to the AP. She defended the decision, saying that they “cannot gamble on the future of our pensions.”

Macron argued that the pushing the bill through was necessary to prevent the pension system from going into a deficit due to longer life expectancies as the French population ages.

This news comes at a time when some lawmakers in the U.S. have floated the idea of raising the retirement age amid rising concerns about whether the government can sustain programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

Both programs been in the center of debt-ceiling discussions, with the Biden administration accusing Republicans of wanting to make cuts to them. Democrats and Republicans remain split on how to handle the retirement programs, since Medicare is projected to experience funding shortfalls in 2028 and Social Security is expected to follow in 2032.

A bipartisan group of senators is tasked with holding discussions of making changes to Social Security in order to increase the program’s longevity. Although senators have yet to release many details, the discussions include considering the retirement age and and raising the taxable wage gap.

Some Republicans have suggested that the U.S. begin talks on changing the retirement age, which currently stands at a minimum of 62 years to receive Social Security benefits. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said on Sunday that he and his fellow lawmakers should “talk” about changing the age threshold, noting that Americans now have a longer life expectancy.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) also said on Sunday that raising the retirement age for people who receive Social Security benefits should be “on the table.” Former South Carolina Gov. and presidential candidate Nikki Haley (R) also signaled that she supports raising the retirement age for the generation of people currently in their 20s.

A Gallup poll found that the age at which people retire as gone up over the last three decades. As of July 2022, the average age of retirement among retirees was 61, up from the average age of 57 in 1991.

However, the age that people expect to retire is even higher among those who have not retired yet. As of July 2022, those who are not retired say that they expect to retire when they are 67.