Overview

• Created by ordinances on October 4, 1945 to unify social insurance, the system has expanded to near‑universal coverage and is now described by historians as a kind of fundamental right.
• The Court of Auditors recently cautioned about a liquidity risk for social‑debt vehicles such as Cades, highlighting what it called an out‑of‑control trajectory for the social accounts.
• Social deficits remain large, with reporting citing a 2025 shortfall projected at about €21.9 billion and a social‑debt burden approaching €300 billion after repeated extensions of Cades.
• Decades of change have shifted governance toward the state and financing toward taxes like CSG and VAT, weakening the original contribution‑funded, social‑partner model.
• An aging population and fewer young workers are intensifying pressures on health and pensions, fueling political battles over cost control, new resources, and the scope of public versus private provision even as public attachment remains high.