China’s plan to raise retirement age will be gradual process, government researcher insists
- The change was prompted by the country’s rapidly ageing population and has prompted uproar on social media
- A leading social security researcher tells state media that the retirement age will rise by a few months at a time over the course of several years
China’s plan to put back the retirement age will be a gradual process rather than a “one-size-fits-all” approach, a leading government researcher has told state media.
The proposal prompted by the county’s ageing population sparked uproar on social media after it was announced on Friday with critics saying it was unfair to make them work longer than expected because the shrinking labour force was the result of government policies.
Jin Weigang, the head of the social security research institute of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, told state news agency Xinhua that the retirement age would rise by a few months every year.
“For example, in the first year of the implementation of this policy, women who originally retire at the age of 50 will retire at the age of 50 plus one or more months. The retirement age will vary for different age groups. That is to say, there will be a number of years of transition,” Jin said.
“What is certain is that in the early stages of the reform, people who are about to retire will only be delayed by one month or a few months, and will not retire a few years later.”