from 60 to 80 years old, a new active life for seniors
Every morning, Alain gets up at dawn to go to his office. Smartphone in hand, he makes calls, videoconferences and outdoor meetings. His mission? Ensure the proper functioning of the application he created a year ago: HappyToque, which helps to improve the daily lives of precarious students by offering food baskets and free cultural outings. More than 6,000 users, soon three employees, a branch in Lyon and Grenoble… “It’s work seven days a week,” he confesses, with a laughing look, behind his pair of glasses. “Isn’t that a bit too much?” » his wife regularly asks him. Because this Lyonnais is not a “start-up” like the others: Alain is 65 years old and, for three years, he has been retired.
Like some of the 17 million French people who have reached the legal age, the sixty-year-old has chosen to remain active. Due to the increase in life expectancy – fifteen years since 1950 -, the improvement of the working environment and the progress of medicine, this period has gradually changed in nature: initially experienced as an update aside to take a rest or indulge in suitable leisure activities, which its etymology suggests, it is now approached as a new stage of life to be written. An evolution that sociologist Anne-Marie Guillemard dates back to the early 2000s, and which is accentuated “in a society which increasingly values the fact of being in movement”, develops Marion Arnaud, sociologist and specialist in retirement. A range of possibilities then opens up, from creative activities to a new kind of professional life.
Alain, the creator of HappyToque, felt the need to realign himself with his values: this former marketing director in the agri-food industry wanted, he says, to put his skills, his experience and his network “to the service of others.” The approach does not surprise Anasthasia Blanché, psychoanalyst and psychosociologist, specialized in supporting people at the dawn of their retirement: “The first fear is no longer being useful. »
A calm commitment
The immense interest of seniors in volunteering bears witness to this. According to a survey conducted by Ifop in 2022, 26% of French people aged 65 or over are involved in the associative world. Witness Annick, 72 years old. Based in Meyzieu (Rhône), this retiree volunteers for Oteci, which helps young people find their professional path. One intervention per week, in universities or schools, which she prepares for hours “with great care and joy”. This former sales representative in the pharmaceutical industry cherishes this form of commitment without constraints, so different from the inflexible framework of the corporate world. “At my age, you want to be able to do things for pure pleasure,” she believes. This choice also allows him not to lose touch with his times: “Recently, one of my sons turned to me to find out what a good CV was today and how to promote it on social networks! »
The diktat of “aging well”
“The trend towards active retirement goes hand in hand with the growing social injunction to keep fit, cultivate oneself and stay in the game; in short, that of “aging well”,” comments sociologist Marion Arnaud. Nadine and Éric, two young retirees from Nantes, are well aware of this: “Our worst fear is losing our health and becoming dependent. » He, a former SNCF computer scientist, saw retirement as a period of “freedom”. She, a former laboratory technician at the hospital, was afraid of being bored. This year, the couple made a series of trips, from Guadeloupe to Egypt. Their daily life: gym, dance evenings or outings to museums. Both know they are “privileged”.
Because access to these leisure activities depends on several factors: state of health, of course, social and cultural capital, and above all financial situation. If French retirees receive on average 1,626 euros gross – 1,512 euros net – per month, according to the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees), this figure hides numerous inequalities: the amounts vary from 790 euros to more than 4,000 euros. Women, for example, whose pay has generally been lower and/or whose career has been cut short due to motherhood, or sexist patterns prevailing in the world of work, have a pension 38% lower than that of women. men, or 1,268 euros compared to 2,050 euros net. And a third of retirees live on less than 1,000 euros per month.
Additional income
“It’s not the same thing as an active retiree to keep your job as it is to embark on a new professional adventure,” observes Valérie Gruau, who founded the site Seniors at your service.
Some – often former employees who held positions of responsibility – struggle to quit and become consultants while others seize the opportunity to reinvent themselves, like these baby boomers who later converted into artists or tourist guides… But among with the 13% of retirees today combining employment and retirement, most are looking to supplement a modest pension. Véronique, 71, is looking for a job to increase her purchasing power, after a career in secretarial work, while she is going through a divorce and caring for her disabled daughter. “It would allow me to have a slightly nicer daily life: today, I go hiking because it doesn’t cost much, but I would like to indulge in a little more well-being activities. »
Passions rediscovered
In Villeurbanne, near Lyon, Philippe, 71, offers a cheap license and moments of conviviality at Codap, a multi-sports club where 1,500 people meet regularly “to enjoy a badminton tournament or venture out on ski trips “. Like this mountain lover, many come here to reconnect with a passion to which they have not given the time they would have liked. This desire to “go back” is sometimes linked to the difficulty of thinking of being retired in a society which still associates this age with the autumn of life. “When I meet people before starting the support, many introduce themselves by describing what they were like… before! » says Anasthasia Blanché. An idea to initiate change? The psychosociologist would not be against the evolution of the word “retirement”, which she considers to have a negative connotation. “In Spanish, for example, we say jubilation (1),” she says with humor.
(1) From Latin jubilation” joy “.
