“The” Old Age “law which was part of the major reforms of the President of the Republic’s program (like the pension reform) is today officially abandoned, without even the beginning of an explanation. The President preferred the Beauvau of security to the Segur of longevity.
We are used to it. President Sarkozy inaugurated what was to become a series of abandonments and one day informed his Minister of Health, Roselyne Bachelot, while she was traveling across France to announce what was then called the “reform of dependency »That he had given preference to the reduction in VAT on catering, which had no consequences in terms of employment. The costs were close, but the benefits were quite different.
Act II, the five-year term of President Hollande was placed by him under the theme “priority youth”. However, thanks to the strong demographic growth of the over-60s, the principle was enacted by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault of a two-stage law: the first around aging at home, the second around old age and establishments. .
Three promises, three abandonments
The first law was carried out in the two years of my mandate as Minister for the Elderly under the name of “law of adaptation of society to aging” (ASV law), with two key advances: the increase in the ‘personalized autonomy allowance (APA) of up to 70% for low incomes and strong dependencies, and the “right to rest”, a 15-day funded leave for caregivers. Act II of the law was postponed until Greek calendars despite an already advanced preparatory work.
President Macron, in his program had included two major reforms: that of pensions and that of dependency. It was discussed during the first years of the seven-year term and two ministers worked on it until a recent announcement of abandonment.
Three promises, a lot of work, multiple reports, a vast public consultation, which resulted in three abandonments while demographic aging continued to increase.
Fifteen million retirees
The old age law is however an emergency. The baby-boom generation is approaching old age and every 5 years France experiences an increase of one million people over the age of 60. It is predicted that in 2030 they will be 28 million. However, it takes ten years to complete the construction of an nursing home, and we will need to train and recruit tens of thousands of home helpers. We are far from it …
And yet, faced with these abandonments, practically no reaction from the French, while everyone is concerned. France has 15 million retirees, a large number are caregivers or are themselves threatened with loss of autonomy. Many of them belong to a trade union, a large association or a political party. So why this silence and this inertia? Experience teaches that all governments need what can be called “constructive mobilization” in order to finally engage in reforms, which are financially heavy, but humanly essential. There is no more time to lose. “
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