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Answers from Lyon to Arnhem's Questionnaire

Question 1

"Stand alone" :

• Self standing solutions : if the senior person is autonomous (can manage by itself for daily tasks), the preference is to leave at home.
• Stay at home, with support : a social worker assists the senior person for several activities (every day, or several times per week, etc.). The senior receives a subsidy from the authorities, but has to pay a portion of the wages of the social assistant.

"Stand in a group" :

• Leave in the house of children or relatives : in France, there is a very small percentage (around 10 % ?) of elderly people leaving with children or relatives. Cases are more frequent in the countryside than in urban areas.
• "Résidences pour personnes agées" : these are specialised institutions for elderly people, where they can leave in group, but still having the benefit of a relative autonomy. The Residence is organised in small flats or rooms, where seniors can even use pieces of furniture of they own, prepare their own meals, etc. Other "Résidences" are organised like hotels for senior "customers". The seniors suffering heavy illness or handicap, or passing more than a certain age (70 years, in general), are not admitted. The institutions are owned by private shareholders, or by town or province administrations, etc.
• "Maisons de retraite" : In general, this is the normal continuation of the "Résidences". A permanent medical assistance can be organised, if necessary. The living space is organised in rooms for one or two person. The cost is in general between 1500 and 2300 Euro per month, depending on the degree of assistance which is requested. Guests are accepted till the end of their life, but the number of beds is limited, therefore there is a waiting list in almost all of these institutions.
• Activities : in Résidences and Maisons de retraite, activities are organised for the residents with the support of the Municipality (local Council) and affiliated "associations", or by specialised organisations (clubs for elderly people, cultural groups, etc.)

Question 2 :

The main motivations of the seniors, when they decide to modify they way of life, are :

• health
• feel isolated (limited contacts, no family, etc.)
• economical limitations (pension is lower than wages, see Item 3-d)

The major difficulties to overcome are :

• waiting list due to limitation in number of room,
• economical limitations (pension too short)

Question 3 :

1. all people is entitled to receive a pension, but the amount may be very different. The pensions paid by the Government are only for civil servants ("fonctionnaires"), or employees of nationalised companies (Railways, Electricité de France, Gaz de France, etc.). For the other, the system is mainly a repartition system where the people having a job pay an amount per month in relation with their salary to "pension institutions" which pay the pensions for the retired people. Obviously, there is also a contribution paid by the employers. The pension institutions are managed jointly by delegates of the unions of workers and delegates of industrial and trade organisations.
2. The lowest pension ("minimum viellesse") is around 500 Euro per month. It is paid to people aged more than 65 years, not having other resources.
   Those having normally worked all their life will receive a pension of around 1000 Euro, paid by the Social Welfare institution. Minimum age for retirement is 60 years. Professionals (engineers, doctors, tradespeople, etc.) pay a complementary quota to specialised professional institutions, which pay complementary pensions to retired professionals, after 65 years age. Since a number of years flexibility has been introduced and complementary pension can be received earlier than 65 anniversary, but with reductions in amount. Complementary pension may be worth 2000 to 3000 additional Euro.
3. In France the company's pension system, equivalent to anglo-american systems (joint contribution of employee and company to private fund investment), are not sensibly developed yet. In some big companies, another system is operative since the early 70's ("Intéressement du personnel"), based on the allocation to all the personnel of the firm, of a small portion of the yearly profit of the company. But the amount is not significant and it is more a possible bonus, than a regular income.
4. the ratio pension/last wages, is as an average :
   § 70 to 80 % for civil servants (their salaries are 15/25 % lower than in private companies),
   § 50 to 75 % for other workers and employees (the higher are the last wages, the lower is the percentage). Some special cases at 90/95 %, when the last wages are particularly low.
5. the pensions system in France is mainly based on compulsory contribution of workers and employers and not on voluntary contribution to private funds.
6. there was no important shift in the composition of pensions in the last 25 years. The system of pensions was basically designed in the late 40's, after World War II.
7. there is no sensible tax reduction for retired or elder people. The tax system is mainly based on the income amount. In some specific situations (number of children, widowhood, etc.), there is a partial reduction after 70 years age.
8. there is no supplementary income based on age, except in the case of very low resources (see Item "3-b").
9. seniors can receive housing priorities (governmental laws, local or regional regulations, housing managed by the company, etc.), depending on their (low) income.
10. obviously, the ratio "housing cost/income after taxes" differs very much, due to wide range of variation of both factors. Housing cost is very different in case of renting or being householder. In France, many elderly people are householders (more than 50%?), which is clearly in favour of "leaving at home to the maximum extent".