Supporting the mutualist pension law: A long-overdue correction for thousands

The new pension law for mutualists is a necessary and fair step toward correcting historical injustices that have left thousands of professionals with inadequate retirement income. For decades, lawyers, architects, and other self-employed workers paid into mutual societies that offered inferior benefits compared to the general Social Security system. This law finally acknowledges that those contributions deserve fair recognition. More than 100,000 mutualists will see significant pension increases, with many receiving boosts of up to 30 percent. The government has carefully targeted the measure at those who retired after 2005, when the mutualist system began transitioning to Social Security, making it easier to recalculate contributions. Excluding pre-2005 retirees is a pragmatic decision to keep the reform affordable and avoid overwhelming the pension budget. The law represents a balanced compromise: it delivers substantial improvements to a large group while respecting fiscal limits. For the excluded, the government has promised a review within a year, acknowledging that further adjustments may be needed. Supporters argue that this is the first major step toward full equality, and that the law sets a precedent for future reforms. The mutualist associations have largely welcomed the change, noting that it will reduce poverty among older professionals. Critics who focus on the exclusion of 47,000 retirees overlook the fact that those individuals had access to other savings and investments, and that the law cannot solve every inequality at once. In a complex system, this law makes a meaningful difference for the majority of those affected.