Walraet, Emmanuelle <br/><br/>
Retirement Timing and Pension Levels in the French Public Sector since the 2003 Reform 

 -  2009.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 94 
<br/><br/> The pension reform of 2003 introduced a major change in the French public sector. The reform created real incentives to continue working by extending the insured period required to qualify for a full pension and by introducing the discount and bonus mechanisms. It is not yet possible to review the reform, because it is too early, ramp-up is gradual, and it is difficult to separate the effects of the reform from those of a simultaneous increase in pay schedules. However, it is possible to analyse the timing of retirement and pension levels of people who have retired since 2002. Regarding retirement timing, public-sector workers in the “active” category are clearly postponing retirement. However, it is hard to attribute this solely to the pension reform: decisions to retire later could result both from the 2003 reform, particularly the extension of the insured period required to qualify for a full pension, and from category measures that could encourage extending work. The slight fall in the average retirement age of workers in the “sedentary” category until 2006 can be attributed partly to early retirement for long careers. The bonus has so far had little impact on retirement decisions even if one-third of new retirees qualified for it in 2007. The average pension of new public-sector retirees grew by 4.8% between 2002 and 2007, in current euros. That increase results from a combination of three factors: the average index increased by 2.8%, the average percentage of a full pension drawn down decreased by 1.5%, and the public-sector point increased in value by around 3.6%. Controlling for distortions in the structure of flows of new retirees by gender, category ( “active” or “sedentary”), ministry and grade (A, B, C), the average pension rose by 5.2% in current euros.