Pensions: a look back at thirty years of debate and reform

Abstract

Whatever the approach to the pension debate, the fundamental issue is to find a balance between contribution rates on the one hand, and length of the retirement period and pension levels on the other. Didier Blanchet places this question in historical perspective. How has this balance shifted since the system was first set up? How has it been affected by the reforms implemented since the early 1990s? Answering these questions provides pointers for assessing and circumscribing the problems still to be resolved.