Part 1: France In January of 2023, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his plans to raise the retirement age in his country from 62 to 64. This was immediately met with backlash from the general public, who took to the streets in a wave of nationwide protests, more of which have been planned for this month. Despite winning a second term in the French elections last year, Macron’s approval rating has not been net positive since the very end of 2017, the year in which he was first elected.
