In China retirement age is raised for the first time since the 1950s.

In China retirement age is raised for the first time since the 1950s.

 

For the first time since the 1950s, China will “gradually raise” the retirement age in response to the country’s aging population and shrinking pension fund.

Proposals to increase the compulsory retirement age for women in blue-collar work from 50 to 55 and for females in white-collar jobs from 55 to 58 were adopted by the upper house of parliament on Friday.

The number of men will rise from 60 to 63. China currently has some of the lowest retirement ages globally.

The plan approved on Friday states that the changes will take effect on January 1, 2025, and that for the next 15 years, the corresponding retirement ages would be adjusted every few months, according to Chinese official media.

According to state news outlet Xinhua, individuals may postpone retirement for a maximum of three years, but they will not be permitted to retire before the statutory age. In order to qualify for pensions, workers will also need to contribute more to the social security system starting in 2030.

They would need to accrue 20 years of contributions by 2039 in order to get their pensions.

The primary state pension fund in the nation will run out of money by 2035, according to a 2019 projection by the state-sponsored Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This prediction was made before to the Covid-19 outbreak, which severely damaged China’s economy.

“A comprehensive assessment of the average life expectancy, health conditions, the population structure, the level of education and workforce supply in China,” according to Xinhua, served as the foundation for the proposal to raise retirement ages and modify the pension policy.

However, on the Chinese internet, the announcement has caused some skepticism and unhappiness.

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On the Chinese social media platform Weibo, a person posted, “In the next 10 years, there will be another bill that will delay retirement until we are 80.” What a wretched year! Raised retirement ages and wage reductions are encountered by middle-aged workers.

It’s getting harder for unemployed people to find jobs,” said one more person. Some others claimed to have expected the news.

“This was expected, there isn’t much to discuss.”In most European nations, women retire at age 60, whereas men do so at 65 or 67.

Weibo users commented, “This is going to be the trend in our country as well.” In 2023, China’s enormous population decreased for a second year in a row as the country’s birth rate continued to drop.

According to announcements made earlier this year, the average life expectancy has increased to 78.2 years. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2040, 402 million Chinese citizens, or about a third of the country’s total population, will be over 60, up from 254 million in 2019.

A demographic emergency is developing

Our China correspondent Laura Bicker wrote earlier this year about China’s approaching demographic problem, which is being caused by a slowing economy, declining government benefits, and a long-standing one-child policy.

China is running out of time to save a sufficient amount of money to care for the nation’s burgeoning senior population, and its pension fund is empty.

About 300 million Chinese workers, who are currently between the ages of 50 and 60, are expected to retire over the course of the next ten years.

This is the largest age group in the nation, almost matching the size of the US population. Who will thereafter take care of them? The response varies depending on who you ask and where you go.