新闻来源：www.bloomberg.com
原文地址：China Risks Public Backlash With Move Toward Retirement Age Hike
新闻日期：2024-09-10
中国最高立法机构正在审查提高退休年龄的提案，可能最早在周五就获得批准。这一举措旨在增加劳动力供给并减缓劳动年龄人口下降的趋势，但也可能引发公众不满。
国务院最近提出，将采取“自愿、灵活”的方式逐步提高退休年龄。这一决定被视为应对该国人口问题的关键措施。专家指出，延迟退休有助于保持经济增长和活力。
中国劳动力市场仍面临困难，经济继续疲软。另一方面，中国企业因其著名的“996”文化和对35岁以上人员及女性的歧视而闻名。
为了解决年龄歧视问题，官员最近承诺将打击包含性别和年龄信息的歧视性招聘广告。
原文摘要：
China’s top lawmakers are reviewing a government proposal to raise the retirement age, paving the way for its approval as soon as Friday, in a move that would expand its shrinking workforce but risk spurring public discontent.The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Tuesday discussed motions including a draft decision by the State Council, China’s cabinet, to gradually up the retirement age, the official Xinhua News Agency reported without giving details. If approved, it would be the first increase in the retirement age in over 40 years.The unexpected deliberation followed a July announcement by the ruling Communist Party that the retirement age will rise in a “voluntary, flexible manner.” The proposal wasn’t on the meeting announced ahead of the four-day meeting of the legislative body this week.The discussion by the top legislative body comes as the country faces demographic headwinds that are weighing on the growth outlook of the world’s second-largest economy. Delaying retirement would slow the decline of its working-age population and buy Beijing more time to boost birth rates that fell to a last year.Raising the threshold could “increase the effective supply and utilization of the labor force of the whole society, and maintain the impetus and vitality of economic and social development,” Yuan Xin, an economics professor from Nankai University, People’s Daily in an article published Wednesday. “In accordance with the principle of voluntariness and flexibility, older people who have the willingness, ability and conditions to continue to work will be able to better realize their own value.”The proposal will likely be endorsed on Friday when the NPCSC meeting concludes, as the approval of a plan submitted by the State Council is largely a formality. The effective date and other details may follow.Since at least the 1970s, the retirement age for white-collar workers has been kept at 60 for men and between 50 and 55 for women, putting China at the lower end of the spectrum worldwide. Previous discussions on raising the age, such as in 2008, had failed to reach the legislature.While generally unwelcome by workers across the world, in China, resistance to the idea has revealed deeper anxieties.Read More: In response to the Tuesday announcement, Chinese social media buzzed with expressions of grievances with the job market, especially for older employees.“Sure let’s delay retirement,” one user in a popular post on X-like Weibo. “But you have to provide jobs for people aged 35-65.”China’s labor market remains amid an economic slowdown. Meanwhile, Chinese companies are infamous for their “996” culture — meaning working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week — and for discrimination against hiring women and people older than 35. The growing use of artificial intelligence also to compete with workers.Seeking to address age discrimination, officials last month pledged to crack down on hiring biases, including by targeting job ads that contain discriminatory language on gender and age.China’s population has been in decline since 2022, with people aged 65 and above expected to reach 30% of the population by around 2035 from 14.2% in 2021, according to a by state broadcaster CCTV on Tuesday. Read More:
