A key thing to note, I think, is that the retirement age is being raised from 60 to 62 -- and a whole bunch of twenty-somethings are rioting because of it.
That may seem odd, but it's related to the job situation. France has a huge under-employment problem, and if the Baby Boomers don't retire, the young people have no hope of getting work.
OTOH, the ones who are working, have to pay for the upkeep of fewer retirees.
Demographics is relentless ;-)