Personalised Independence Allowance: pensioners on the lowest pensions start receiving it, on average, five years earlier than those on higher pensions

In France, on average, a pensioner receives the Personalised Autonomy Allowance (APA) for around 10 per cent of their total retirement period, based on mortality rates and APA take-up figures observed in 2017. This proportion is higher for women (12 per cent) than for men (6 per cent), due to women’s greater life expectancy.

It also varies significantly, within each gender, depending on the amount of the pension. The wealthiest pensioners therefore receive the APA for a slightly shorter period on average, even though their expected retirement duration is longer. However, it is particularly in the case of home-based APA, and especially among the least dependent categories (GIR 3 or 4), that the difference is most pronounced. Conversely, the better-off spend a slightly longer period of their pensions in care homes with a higher level of dependency (GIR 1 and 2), particularly because they are more likely to reach advanced ages, at which such situations are more common.

Around 7 out of 10 women and 4 out of 10 men claim the APA during their pensions. The probability of claiming the APA during pensions appears, for a given gender, to be fairly similar regardless of the pension amount. However, the age at which pensioners start claiming the benefit is higher the better off they are. For home-based APA, for example, the average age of commencement is 85.2 years among the wealthiest male pensioners, compared with 77.7 years among those with the lowest pensions.