How are pensions worked out if employment split between France and UK?
The UK and France coordinate on pensions
How can you qualify for a full French pension?
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Reader's question: I am a French national, resident in England since 1985. I have always worked there. I may move back to France in 2025 via work, with a permanent French contract. I am 56. Would I be able to claim a full pension in France when I eventually retire? Would my English pension (37 years) be taken into consideration?
The UK and EU have retained pension coordination rules after Brexit.
As you were born after 1951, you fall under the UK’s ‘new’ state pension rules.
You would be entitled to a full UK state pension, as you have paid in more than the minimum 35 years.
Read more: How do I declare deceased husband’s pension for French taxes?
French pension
If you then move to France and work in France for several years, you would be accruing some right to a French pension (usually a ‘basic’ amount, plus a complementary amount).
The calculation of a French pension involves a combination of the number of trimestres (quarter-years) paying in and the level of the salary and also whether or not you have worked a ‘full career’ in France (around 43 years). In the latter case a reduction is applied for each year you fall short.
The main benefit of ‘pension coordination’ in this case would be that the years working in the UK should be taken into consideration so you are not penalised for having not worked a ‘full career’.
This system will increase the amount of French pension compared to the amount without coordination, but you would not obtain as much as someone who has worked all their life in France.
