Retirement: after 40 years of activity, Isabelle did not expect to earn 700 euros per month

TESTIMONY – At almost 63 years old, Isabelle receives a pension of 720 euros gross per month. An amount that the former nurse considers unworthy compared to her years of activity.

For Isabelle*, the amount of her retirement is far from reflecting her career. This former nurse practiced for 40 years in different structures such as a hospital intensive care unit or even in nursing homes (accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people). The Niçoise stopped working at 62 years and 4 months and today receives a total pension (basic and supplementary) of 720 euros gross. She does not complain and does not find herself in financial difficulty, her husband receiving 4,500 euros per month. “I’m doing well. But I have the impression, with this level of pension, of having a very small career behind me”she regrets.

This low amount is the result of a broken career and periods of work abroad. While she began her career in 1983, she worked non-stop for 10 years. Then, she interrupts her career to follow her husband abroad and does volunteering or working, but none of these periods are taken into account for her retirement. She also pauses her activity for a while to take care of her children. She then returned to France in 2007 and began temporary work in different health establishments. Born on November 1, 1961, she is part of the first generation affected by the pension reform which raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. She therefore retires at the new legal age, 62 years and 3 months for her generation.

“How can we live with so little? This is not decent!”

After this busy career, she is surprised that the amount of her pension is so low. “How can we live with so little? This is not decent! I am not a woman who has twiddled her thumbs for 40 years”she takes offense. Having had an incomplete career, particularly due to her expatriation, Isabelle was not able to benefit from the increase in small pensions provided for by the 2023 reform and which allows her to earn on average 50 euros more per month. “And when I learn that you will have to wait six more months to see your pension increased (not on January 1 but on July 1, 2025, Editor’s note), I am disgusted.”

When she looks back on the progress of her career, she says to herself that she is paying for the State’s failings. Mother of three children, she had to stop working because daycare was costing her too much. And the 10% increase in his pension for three children is far from compensating for this “hole” in his professional life. Aware of the low level of pension she could receive, but also because she loved her work, she was ready to work at least until age 64.

But her husband, losing his autonomy, needs her presence. “It’s heartbreaking to have had to stop working and when I see the result, I tell myself that it’s a double whammy.” And even though her husband has a good pension, she pays attention to everything, buying her things on Vinted, a second-hand site. Foresighted, she anticipates the day when she will find herself living alone and also the possibility that she will continue to financially help her children who may find themselves unemployed with rent to pay.

*The first name has been changed