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Dr Christophe de Jaeger (Longevity and geriatrics)
If the life expectancy of the French has increased over the years, can they however hope to take full advantage of years in good health, at the age of 65? The question, at the heart of the debates on pension reform, deserves to be asked. Answers with Dr. Christophe de Jaeger, physiologist and specialist in aging.
Does living longer mean living better and healthier? This question, which everyone can ask themselves on their own scale, takes a new turn as the pension reform plans to place the retirement age at 65 (against 62 currently). “We are living longer and so (…) we have to work longer” declared Olivier Dussopt, Minister of Labor in December, according to the line of conduct of the government. The increasing life expectancy is, in fact, part of the arguments in favor of the reform. But is this observation so implacable as that? And doesn’t he quickly forget several nuances that accompany the age of the French?
A life expectancy that is growing steadily, but less and less quickly
It’s a fact: the French are living longer and longer. Thus, according to INSEE, and under current mortality conditions, a little girl born in 2021 could live up to 85.4 years on average, while a boy born the same year would live up to 79.3 years. . In 70 years, the French would have gained on average 15 years of life.
“Except that we omit to say that the more the years pass, the less this increase in total life expectancy at birth increases” says Dr. de Jaeger, doctor specializing in aging and member of the Doctissimo expert committee.
In addition, the increase in life expectancy is due to a reduction in infant mortality since the 1950s, and to the fact that older people with chronic diseases are treated better and longer. “It does not go in the direction of good health, paradoxically, we only increase this period of life in bad health” he confirms.
“Healthy” life expectancy, the other important indicator
Is it right to rely on total life expectancy to designate the right retirement age? For the doctor, it is a question of basing himself on another indicator: what is called life expectancy without disability, or life expectancy in good health, that is to say the average lifespan of a person before they are affected by limitations in daily activities.
The average, in this case, drops drastically. Still according to INSEE, in 2020, life expectancy without disability reached 64.4 years for men and 65.9 years for women, not to mention the disparities according to lifestyle.
“But 65 for a woman, who has a total life expectancy of 85, means 20 years sick. So that poses a problem. It’s a good thing that we treat people, and that we get results with today’s medicine, but that questions us about what should happen before, in prevention”.
Prolonging healthy life expectancy must be the challenge
For Dr. de Jaeger, the focus and count in this issue is simply not in the right place.
“Once a person is sick, it is the health system that takes care of it and it is the medical treatments that will prolong the lives of sick people. This life expectancy is linked to medical progress. But no one wonders how to increase this life expectancy in good health? So that’s where efforts have to be made. So that life expectancy “in good health” increases from 65 to 70 or 75 years and thus fully enjoys one’s retirement years”.
Thus, the statistical figures offer an interesting panorama, whether for retirement or other decisions. But for the doctor, they must not hide the reality of what each individual is going through.
These figures only highlight the need for care as soon as possible to remain active in their health… This should be the priority offered to the French before even talking about retirement.