Feature Article

Why we should embrace increasing the retirement age The age of retirement is a hot topic at present both in China and in the UK. In China, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has been studying the different possibilities of changing the retirement age or making it more flexible. In changing extending the retirement age, the ministry believes it will "postpone pension deficiencies," which, according to the 2011 Chinese pension report, currently stands at almost 70 billion Yuan ($11.9 billion). In the UK similar measures are being implemented by the Coalition Government. Women in the UK who were born after 1950 had been due to see their pension age increase gradually from 60 to 65 over the next ten years. Now female workers in the UK are being informed that their retirement age will rise to 65 in just six years by 2016 and will rise again to 66 by 2020. The retirement age of men in Britain, on the other hand, will rise by just a year to 66 between 2018 and 2020, when it will then be the same as women.

Raising the age at which people, particularly women, can pocket the state pension, has sparked widespread anger in the UK, with many claiming the women who will be affected by the new policy are being used as 'political footballs'. In China the announced plans of the possibility of extending the retirement age has been met with disparity. In response to an article published on China Daily discussing the pros and cons of China adopting a new retirement policy, one reader wrote a letter stating that the 'negative impacts of such a change will outweigh the positives'. The reader stated several negative impacts such a change would make, including workers not wanting to extend their careers, with an older workforce there would be greater difficulty for younger people to find employment and therefore less circulation of money in the economy, and that extending the retirement age cannot possibly end gender discrimination. I am inclined to disagree with these comments, as with Chinese people now living longer than ever, and, according to figures made by the UK Department for Work and Pensions in 2010, more than ten million people in Britain - 17 per cent of the population - now expecting to live to see their 100th birthday, how can government's realistically afford to pay people pensions for what equates to almost one third of their lives?

The average retirement age in China is currently 60 years for men and 50 - 55 years for women. The pension system simply has to be reformed in China, like in the UK, if it is going to be sustainable in the long term and to make sure that people can look forward to a decent state pension when they eventually retire. As for the argument that increasing the retirement age will reduce the opportunities for young job seekers, I do not believe that this is necessarily true. Generally speaking older, experienced and mature workers cannot be directly replaced by the young and inexperienced. My father, for example, is, at 64, approaching retirement from his long-standing position as a senior lecturer at an English university. It is highly unlikely that he will be replaced by a 21-year-old, fresh-from-college 'whippersnapper'! On the contrary my father's predecessor is most likely to be an experienced, mature and albeit slightly younger 'equal'. To say that implementing an older workforce will directly replace youngsters embarking on the career ladder, is, in my opinion, a little 'naïve' and is hardly backed up by evidence.

Then there is the question of the personal wellbeing of the older workforce, which most critics of governmental proposals to extend the retirement age have failed to mention. Generally speaking those who retire early often become sedentary sooner, often leading to health problems. Staying in work on the other hand can help individuals stay fitter, more alert, and less inclined to develop health problems. If we are 'nit-picking' at the monetary implications of later retirement, how much money would help keeping 60 and 70 years olds in good health save national health service?

Each year a government pushes back the age of retirement it saves £13 billion. This statistic pooled together with the fact that extending an older workforce is unlikely to affect the chances of younger people being employed and the fact that working longer can help individuals stay fitter for longer and less prone to illness, it shouldn't be a question of should governments extent retirement ages, but should be a question of how soon.

by Gabrielle Pickard