March 2023 – Protests are often “testosterone-fuelled events”, as the Guardian newspaper puts it, but women are at the forefront of current pension protests in France.

With childcare and more part-time jobs, France’s women have to work longer for smaller pensions than their male colleagues, and their anger is rising.

France’s new pension law which raises the official retirement age to 64, and increases the contributions necessary for a full pension, has sparked angry protests, strikes, blockades and violence across France. And French women are on the front line.

Female workers, especially those in poorly paid and part-time jobs, say they will bear the brunt of the legislation and will now have to work even longer than their male colleagues for lower pensions.

“If you’re a woman in France, you should be out on the streets protesting,” said Fabienne Oudart, 56, who joined Thursday’s march in Paris. “Already we earn less than men and that means lower pensions. This reform shows no respect for those women working in low-paid and often part-time jobs.”

Picture credit: The Guardian.

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