The inevitable conflict between the working population and pensioners

We examine the situations of the OECD, the euro zone and France. These countries will be characterised by low productivity gains and low growth in the working-age population under the effect of ageing. This suggests that conflict between pensioners and the working population is inevitable, if the pension system is not reformed to reduce the number of pensioners (for example, if the retirement age does not change): either the living standard s of pensioners relative to the working population remain stable and real wages grow less than productivity (which may be very little), or real wages keep pace with productivity and the relative living standard s of pensioners must decline. This is the case whether pension system s are pay-as-you-go or funded.