ARE THE FRENCH LAZY?

As a European, I have lost my patience with the French. 

Along with the rest of the world, I have watched them march and go on strike and burn things and let mountains of garbage pile up in their beautiful capital city—all over reforms that would have them working until the age of 64, a mere two extra years. 

I find that absurd. 

Opponents of the reform are making all kinds of arguments against it, including that they have worked so hard all their lives that they need time to enjoy their waning years while they are still in good health.

Well, if they want to do that, they should keep working. 

Work is good for your health. 

Just look at this massive longitudinal Swedish study. Researchers found that a later-than-average retirement age is associated with a decreased risk of dementia. Most people in Sweden leave their jobs at the age of 65 and researchers found that people who had worked past that age had a threefold lower risk of developing dementia than those who had retired at the standard age. Previous studies had already shown that later retirement is also associated with a lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease and losing cognitive function, the researchers noted. 

It makes sense. We know that mental stimulation and social interactions help stave off cognitive decline. Retirees often engage with fewer people than they did when they were working. What’s more, most of us get our largest dose of intellectual challenge at our workplace, and that kind of brain teasing generally drops off abruptly once we leave our jobs. That leads to decline. 

Use it or lose it, as the saying goes.

Yes, Swedish citizens have great benefits, access to quality healthcare and generous retirement schemes. But studies show the findings hold true in other contexts. 

In China, for example, where in 2009 the government introduced the National Rural Pension Scheme, researchers found that the program adversely affected cognitive performance. Having access to pension benefits had a significant negative impact on elderly people there, most notably by delaying recall, which is linked to the onset of dementia. The authors of this study drew attention the body of preexisting evidence that shows the more you use your brain the more slowly you lose cognitive ability, suggesting that working longer helps you stay sharp. The brain remains malleable and open to “enhancement” even in late adulthood, the authors note. 

The Chinese program allows people to begin receiving benefits at 60, even if they haven’t yet retired. To determine its effect, researchers looked at episodic memory, which they measured through verbal learning and recall tasks, and mental intactness, judged by a series of memory tasks. They found that getting pension benefits was linked to poorer immediate recall, delayed recall, and total word recall. That is alarming beyond the obvious; lower performance on delayed recall memory has been proven to be an extremely accurate indicator of dementia among seniors.

Comprehensively, after receiving benefits for years, participants in the study had declined roughly five percent of the average baseline score.

Cognitive function isn’t just a nice thing to have in old age; without it we don’t have good judgement. We all know that the elderly are easy prey for scammers; no longer being able to think clearly is the reason why. The more we do to protect our critical faculties the better the quality of our later years—even if that means we continue working. As we get older, the decisions we need to make grow more complex, both in terms of our finances and our health. 

It's not all in your head

There are physical effects of retirement as well. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that people who retired were 40 percent more likely to have a heart attack or stroke than those who remained employed. A study of former employees of Shell Oil found that those who retired at 55 had higher mortality rates than those who had stopped working at 65. Research conducted in Austria found a 5.5 percent increase in the risk of premature death for men who retired a year early. Scientists in Greece found that a five-year increase in retirement age was accompanied by a 10 percent decrease in mortality. And a survey in the United States indicated an 11 percent lower risk of morality was associated with working an extra year. 

There are other studies that show the same thing: working longer is good for longevity. 

Of course, there are people who have physically grueling jobs who need to stop before their bodies break down, but that is not the case for the majority of the people taking to the streets each week across France, many of whom are still in college. 

No, in my opinion the issue is something else, and I will say it:

It’s laziness. 

They want to enjoy their food and their wine (and who doesn’t?) while putting in the minimal amount of effort. Well, I’m sorry to say that that is not only bad for the economy but, as the research shows, bad for individuals as well. 

The French need to clean up their garbage and get back to work. 

At least until they are 64.