One third of the French education budget goes to pensions for people who do not teach anymore.
Posted by Real Time with Bill Maher, Checked
- Sources
- 3 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 85%
Real Time with Bill MaherOct 24, 2026
A Reuters report on a French government annex published 2026-10-13 says 32% of the education ministry's budget (about €28.5 billion) goes to the special pension account that funds retired state civil servants' pensions, which matches the claim's 'a third' and 'people who don't teach anymore'.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… Medicaid is adult daycare. If you're a senior citizen, you're already living like Mandami is president now. These are historic, necessary programs, but we have to admit the redistribution of wealth has gotten out of whack. Same as in France: the schools are crumbling there because a third of their education budget goes to pensions for people who don't teach anymore. Here in America, we spend six times more on every person over 65 than we do on those under 25, and this is not sustainable. …
Real Time with Bill Maher · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Reuters report on the government's annex says 32% of the education ministry's budget, or €28.5 billion, goes to the pension account that funds retired state civil servants' pensions.[1]
Supports. A Reuters analysis from 2025 found more than 28% of the 2026 education budget earmarked for pension contributions, which points the same way at a slightly lower share.[2]
Supports. A tweet from Sophie Pedder reports the same finance ministry breakdown, saying nearly a third of the education budget is spent on pensions; this repeats the Reuters figure rather than independently checking it.[3]
Context. An opinion piece from 2025 says nearly one fifth of a €63 billion education budget goes to retired teachers' pensions; this covers only retired teachers and a different year, so it does not contradict the broader civil-servant figure.[4]
Sources
4 sources: 1 fact-checker, 3 not rated
- 1French ministries' pension costs drain public service spending, report saysreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2How French teachers' pensions leave students falling behindstraitstimes.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3"In English 32% of the French state budget allocated to school ... - Xx.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4OPINION: Pensioners, not immigrants, are wrecking Francethelocal.fr · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post