China is pushing to extend the retirement age to tackle its aging population issue. According to a report by the economic media outlet Caixin, a document from the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, released last month, outlined plans to raise the retirement age voluntarily and flexibly.
China has not revised its retirement regulations since 1951 when it set the retirement age at 60 for men and between 50 and 55 for women. However, the average life expectancy in China has significantly increased, rising from 67.9 years in 1981 to 78.2 years in 2021.
The Chinese government first proposed extending the retirement age in 2013. A decade later, its inclusion in this year’s plenary document underlines the urgency of addressing China’s aging population.
China faces serious challenges regarding its labor force and job security as the population ages and birth rates decline. The number of people aged 60 and over in China doubled from 126 million in 2000 to 297 million last year.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that China’s working-age population will shrink by approximately 170 million over the next 30 years. At the same time, the number of people aged 65 and older is expected to rise to around 380 million, exacerbating the country’s aging demographic issue.
Falling birth rates are deepening concerns about China’s aging society. Since 2017, the number of newborns has decreased, placing additional strain on the working population.
The dependency ratio of the population aged 65 and older in China rose from 12.7% in 2012 to 20.8% in 2021. As of 2021, approximately 21 elderly individuals needed support for every 100 workers, the report noted.
Most Commented