For several years, Chinese workers have been retiring at comparatively young ages, such as women for 50 and men for 60 years of age.
However, the policy has now changed. The Chinese government passed new legislation on Friday with a new plan to delay the age of retirement over the course of 15 years. The new policy will be applicable from January 1.
According to the current rule, men in urban areas could retire at 60 and receive their pensions, while women must be 50 or 55, depending on their occupation.
However, the new rules gradually push back the age to 63 for men and to 55 and 58, respectively, for women.
The announcement sparked immediate widespread discussion across Chinese social media.
Some social media users encouraged that the changes weren’t more drastic and included some flexibility. One comment on the X-like social media platform Weibo, which garnered thousands of likes, said: “As long as there are options to retire or not based on our will, I have no objections.”
Others voiced discontent over the prospect of delayed access to their pension and years of extra work and concern about whether the policy would strain China’s already tough job market, where unemployment levels among young people remain stubbornly high.
“Delayed retirements just means you can’t get your pension until you hit 63, but it doesn’t mean everyone will have a job until then!” wrote one user.
“The current retirement policy framework has remained unchanged for 73 years. Especially since the reform and opening up (starting around 1978), the demographic, economic, and social landscape has transformed dramatically,” state media quoted demographer Yuan Xin as saying earlier this week.
China’s retirement ages are lower than those of several major economies. The 2022 average standard retirement age across Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries stood at 63.6 years old for women and 64.4 years old for men.
Chinese Workers Have Been Retiring Early; Now China Raises Retirement Age
