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An analysis of the history of women’s pension rights in France brings to light three distinct periods. The first period, extending up to the mid 1960s, is characterized by the introduction of modest maternity and survivor’s pension rights, at a time when old age insurance was still largely undeveloped in France. These first milestones coincide with the convergence in France of the first feminist movements and the pronatalist current, under whose dual impetus a system of welfare rights for mothers was created. The second period, from the 1960s to the 1980s, is characterized by increasing demands for women’s independence and specific rights and by the growing presence of women in the labour force. A series of substantial measures were adopted, designed to improve the living standards of pensioners, women in particular. They constitute the main pillar of women’s pension rights today, with combined recognition of periods of working activity and periods of child raising. These measures take account of changes which, during this same period, enabled women to obtain independent status and enjoy full civil and political rights. In the last period, few changes specific to women in the pension system are worthy of mention, except those resulting from european jurisprudence and the measures concerning survivor’s pensions. The future of women’s rights is nevertheless uncertain, at a time when ever stricter spending controls are being set in place and the rules of pension attribution are being changed. There is also the question of how existing systems can be adapted to a situation that is changing for women from one generation to the next, both as regards their working career and the structures of family life. Another difficulty concerns the implementation of EU rules on equal opportunities for men and women. These points deserve to be examined from an overall perspective, though the large differences between social groups and between generations and the absence of an explicit model around which a consensus can be built make analysis difficult. However, history tends to show that this diversity of situations and references is nothing new.