The world's second largest economy, China, says it is set to raise its statutory retirement age for all workers across the nation, because of the country’s overwhelming demographic crisis and consistent ageing population.
This is according to reports released by the nation’s news agency, Xinhua to the general public.
The reports by Beijing officials shared by Xinhua read thus : “The statutory retirement age for male workers will be gradually extended from the original 60 years to 63 years,” while for women workers, the retirement age will be extended “from the original 50 or 55 years to 55 and 58 years, respectively,” depending on the type of job they are involved in, stating that retirement age will gradually begin to rise over 15 years from 2025.
The retirement age for male workers will gradually increase from 60 to 62 years and three months, with a 7-year transition period, full implementation of this change is expected to take effect in 2028.
However, for female workers, the retirement age will rise from 55 to 60 years and four months, with a longer transition period of 14 years, with full implementation expected to take effect in 2035.
The statement further reports that: “Starting 2030, the minimum year of basic pension contributions required to receive monthly benefits will be gradually raised from 15 years to 20 years at the pace of an increase of six months annually”.
This new development will also allow Chinese people “to postpone retirement to an even later date if they reach an agreement with employers”, the statement also added.
Come 2030, employees will also have to make more contributions to the social security system in order to receive pensions, and in 2039, they would have to clock 20 years of contributions before they can access their pensions.
According to reports, the plan to increase retirement ages and adjust the pension policy was based on " health conditions, a comprehensive assessment of the average life expectancy, the population structure, the level of education and workforce supply in China," Xinhua reported.
This development has also attracted some criticism and discontent from Chinese individuals on the internet.
Some comments captured in the internet by Chinese citizens read thus : "In the next 10 years, there will be another bill that will delay retirement until we are 80," one user wrote on a Chinese social media site Weibo.
"What a miserable year! Middle-aged workers are faced with pay cuts and raised retirement ages. Those who are unemployed find it increasingly difficult to get jobs".
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