The French Pensions Advisory Council (COR) has just published a thematic report on family and spousal pension rights. Among the schemes analysed, the survivor’s pension, which represents €38.7 billion (in 2024), covers close to four million retirees in France, and contributes significantly to reducing the gap in pension amounts between women and men, continues to attract strong interest. The COR report highlights current expectations around the scheme, particularly in terms of harmonising disparities between pension schemes and extending it to couples beyond marriage. It also notes that the main purpose now associated with survivor’s pensions is maintaining the standard of living at the time of widowhood, described as “a shared, priority objective” among COR members.
This purpose raises a fundamental question, which we seek to explore in this post. The issue is not only about the standard of living one aims to guarantee (that of widowhood) but also about the standard of living used as a reference point (that of life as a couple). It is important to bear in mind that seeking to maintain the standard of living at the time of widowhood means choosing to take into account the advantage, in terms of standard of living, associated with life as a couple, with the aim of extending it even after the couple no longer exists. The fundamental question to ask is therefore the following: should the French pension system take into account life as a couple, and if so, on what grounds?
