In China, retiring as early as 50 has been the norm. That is about to change

Life expectancy in China has almost doubled over the past seven decades. (Image: 123rf)

Sun, 15 Sep 2024

By Liyan QiSqueezed by an economic downturn and a rapidly ageing population, China took a step toward raising its unusually low age benchmarks for when state employees have to retire.China has one of the lowest retirement ages among major economies, letting women retire as early as 50 and men at 60 – policies unchanged since the 1950s. Beijing has long said it wants citizens to work longer, but has repeatedly put off any policy changes for fear of social pushback. The urgency has grown as the country confronts a decline in birth...

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