The French atitude to retirement, oo la la!

The French are different. They have always been different. French workers believe they should spend as little time as possible engaged in work activities and that by the ancient age of 62 they should be retired with nice pensions and live the life of leisure. Well, lovely if you can get it. But the reality is that in this frantic globalised world and with longevity becoming a byword, most of us probably think that a government policy that all workers should retire at 62 is pretty daft. Even retiring at 65 seems a bit pathetic these days. My father carried on as a teacher at full stretch until he was 75 and that was years ago. Yet the French are going mad about President Macron's dictat, now approved by parliament, that the retirement age is to be lifted from 62 to 64. When the French protest, they seriously protest, often violently. For the rest of us in Europe, fighting to keep retirement age at 62 seems so yesterday. People live longer and work longer and that's the way it is. Non? Surely if the EU stipulates what shape a banana should be it could also dictate when EU workers can retire. I think the French gentlemen and ladies should get used to the idea that in most western countries, people realise that working longer - beyond the late 60s - is actually beneficial not just to their individual nations but also to themselves. Mental and physical activity helps to prolong life. But the French don't see it this way. They still believe it is their right to hang up their working boots at the youngster age of 62. Macron has a helluva battle on his hands.