China Ages: First Retirement Age Increase Since 1978 | EUROtoday

Listen to the audio model of the article

China's authorized retirement age can be regularly raised beginning subsequent yr for the primary time since 1978, the official China News company introduced.

Gradual improve

The authorized retirement age for males will regularly be raised to 63 from the present 60, and for ladies from 50 to 55, or from 55 to 58, relying on the kind of job. The improve can be unfold over 15 years ranging from January 1, 2025. Analysts say China must act as a result of the low retirement age and declining delivery fee are pushing up the variety of retirees relative to the working-age inhabitants. Between 2023 and 2035, about 20 million Chinese will retire annually.

China’s inhabitants shrank for the second yr in a row to 1.4 billion in 2023. The transfer comes as households are underneath strain from slowing financial development, a protracted housing stoop and a weak labor market that’s weighing on home consumption.

Youth protests

The new guidelines will enable workers to “postpone retirement to an even later date if they reach an agreement with their employers,” China News added. In addition, beginning in 2030, the minimal variety of years of labor required to be eligible for an old-age pension can be elevated from 15 to twenty years, at a fee of six extra months annually. The information has sparked outrage amongst youthful employees, who complain that they must work longer to assist their elders.