Everything about China raising retirement age: reasons and responses

China is all set to “gradually raise” the country’s retirement age for the first time in 70 years. The top legislative body on Friday approved proposals to raise the retirement age for men from 60 to 63. For the female population, it’ll be increased from 50 to 55 in blue-collar jobs.

Notably, China’s current retirement age is one of the least globally. The change is to be gradually brought from January 1, 2025, amid the respective retirement ages raised in some months over the next 15 years, as per media reports.

China raises retirement age at a tricky time

Xinhua reported that retiring before the statutory age is not going to be permitted, but that people can delay their retirement by no more than 3 years. In 2019, experts said if the current trends continue China’s main state pension fund could be out of money by 2035.

The proposal to increase the retirement age in China is based on a comprehensive assessment of the average life expectancy, health conditions, population structure, the level of education and labour supply in the country, according to Xinhua.

The country is facing significant pressure to dole out pensions. The decline in pension budgets is compounded by the pressure on a decreasing pool of employed people to support the retired population, according to a report in Indian Express.

Lot of scepticism and discontent on social media

China is also facing an increasing life expectancy and an ageing population. Nonetheless, the plan to raise retirement ages has triggered a lot of scepticism and discontent on different Chinese social media platforms.

The changes have also come at a tricky time as China is in the middle of a deflation cycle, marked by sluggish economic performance, reducing investment and property prices, and high youth unemployment at 21.3% in June.