Almost two thirds of French voters would support further increases in the retirement age, according to a new poll published by newspaper Les Echos.

The poll by IPSOS found 63 per cent supporting a significant overhaul of the French pensions system, with 61 per cent supporting an increase in the legal retirement age, Reuters reported. Sixty-six per cent also supported a hike in the pay-in period to qualify for a full pension from 41.5 years.

The findings come despite mass protests in 2010 over then-president Nicolas Sarkozy’s pensions bill raising the minimum legal retirement age from 60 years of age to 62 and increasing the pay-in period from 40 to 41.5 years. Currently only 19 percent of 60 to 64 year-olds in France still work.

According to the independent Conseil d'Orientation des Retraites, the French Pensions Advisory Council that advises the prime minister on policy, French public pensions annual shortfall of €14bn will increase to €20bn by 2020 –more than a fifth of its current deficit of €98.8bn in 2012.

President François Hollande is expected to present reforms to the pensions system in July to be introduced in 2014. Despite this, more than three quarters of those surveyed (76 per cent) said they did not trust the government to make the pension system sustainable.

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