I read today that French firefighters are demanding the right to retire at 50, instead of 55. Now, perhaps they start working earlier than their university graduates – I had a French roommate and Parisian girlfriend one year in college – but that would seem to indicate that they would be working somewhere around 25 years, or one-third their life expectancy. France will have to import a lot more Arabs to make up for the potential loss of man-years due to demographics and the fact that the French want to work less and less; I expect this, like most French concepts, to eventually blow up in their haughty faces.
Keep in mind that it makes no sense to give into these progressive demands. They only lead to the next one, so you might as well stand your ground the first time.