Social Security - Old-Age Insurance

Private-sector employees must all pay into the old-age pension system regardless of their earnings. The general scheme is managed by CNAV (National Old-Age Pension Fund), and all private sector employees are also obliged to join a supplementary pension scheme organised by AGIRC (general association of pension institutions for managerial staff) or ARRCO (association for the supplementary retirement scheme for non-managerial staff).

To be eligible for a full retirement pension, you must be over the age of 65 or have paid contributions for 160 three-month periods (for those born after 1948). If you are not eligible to obtain a full retirement pension, your pension will be calculated at a lower rate, with the rate of discount calculated according to age and length of the insurance.

The amount of the pension plus the supplementary solidarity allowance for the elderly (‘ASPA’) is at least EUR 7 445.30 a year for a single person and EUR 13 374.16 a year for a couple.

If the pensioner dies, the surviving spouse may be eligible for a survivors’ pension if they are over 51 and their personal resources do not exceed a certain threshold. This survivors’ pension may attain 54% of the amount of the old age pension received by the deceased spouse, and may be increased if there are dependant children.

France offers a variable disability insurance graded according to the degree of disability. Like all health insurance allowances, disability pensions are only available to persons who can prove that they have made the necessary minimum contributions.

Text last edited on: 03/2007

Source: European Union
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