Thumbs down to raising retirement age
Source: Xinhua |
July 3, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A SUGGESTION that China's retirement age should be raised to 65 has been overwhelmingly rejected by the public, judging by online comments.
He Ping, a research fellow with a government-backed research institute on social security, addressed a high-profile seminar on aging on Sunday, saying China should begin lifting the retirement age from 2016 to gradually reach 65 in 2045, according to a report in yesterday's Beijing Times.
China's current retirement system was introduced more than six decades ago, when average life expectancy was around 50.
Today, the general retirement age is 60 for men, 55 for women.
The report quickly became one of the top stories on several major news portals, including Sina.com and 163.com, and prompted widespread comment.
By yesterday afternoon, more than 36,000 comments on the story had been posted.
One of the most supported was a complaint that blue-collar workers could hardly be expected to continue working in their 60s so the new rule would only benefit officials.
Others highlighted the problem of youth unemployment if people stayed in their jobs longer. There would be serious social problems if the government failed to create jobs for young people, many said.
Last month, China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced an investigation into a possibly more flexible retirement and pension system that would allow people to continue working past the current retirement age.
The announcement triggered intense discussion, and more than 90 percent of the public voted "no" in two separate online polls.
The ministry later said the studies did not mean an immediate change, but the revision of the retirement age would be "an inevitable trend" in the future and carried out in accordance with economic and social changes.
He Ping, a research fellow with a government-backed research institute on social security, addressed a high-profile seminar on aging on Sunday, saying China should begin lifting the retirement age from 2016 to gradually reach 65 in 2045, according to a report in yesterday's Beijing Times.
China's current retirement system was introduced more than six decades ago, when average life expectancy was around 50.
Today, the general retirement age is 60 for men, 55 for women.
The report quickly became one of the top stories on several major news portals, including Sina.com and 163.com, and prompted widespread comment.
By yesterday afternoon, more than 36,000 comments on the story had been posted.
One of the most supported was a complaint that blue-collar workers could hardly be expected to continue working in their 60s so the new rule would only benefit officials.
Others highlighted the problem of youth unemployment if people stayed in their jobs longer. There would be serious social problems if the government failed to create jobs for young people, many said.
Last month, China's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced an investigation into a possibly more flexible retirement and pension system that would allow people to continue working past the current retirement age.
The announcement triggered intense discussion, and more than 90 percent of the public voted "no" in two separate online polls.
The ministry later said the studies did not mean an immediate change, but the revision of the retirement age would be "an inevitable trend" in the future and carried out in accordance with economic and social changes.
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