In France, the labour force participation rate for those over 55 years of age is particularly low, especially for men. For them, it greatly diminished between 1975 and 2000, under the effect of early retirement and the lowering of the legal age for retirement, before rising in the first half of the 2000s, linked to the pension reforms and the end of early retirement. Between 2008 and 2011, the unemployment rate for those aged 55-59 greatly increased, under the twin effect of the crisis and the end of exemptions from active job-seeking. Nonetheless, the unemployment rate for those aged 55-59 continued to grow: between 2008 and 2011, it increased by 2.6 points annually on average. In 2011, 36% of those aged 55-59 did not have a job and among them one out of six said they wanted to work. The latter were mainly workers or employees and had usually lost their job following redundancy. They also more frequently sought a part-time job than the younger ones. The rate of returns to work for unemployed people in their fifties has improved over the last few years. More than half of those aged from 55 to 59 who found salaried employment worked part-time however, either because they wanted to or there was no alternative. The share of subsidised contracts in employment found increased with age.