The Controversy Surrounding France's Pension Reforms and Retirement Age.

The French government's move to force through reforms of the pension system that will push up the retirement age from 62 to 64 has sparked impromptu protests in Paris and across several French cities. The proposed reforms were already controversial, but it was the manner in which the bill was approved - sidestepping a vote in the country's lower house - that arguably sparked the most anger. The pensions system is viewed as the bedrock of the state's responsibilities and relationship with its citizens, and the proposed reforms have inflamed opposition across the political spectrum.