China has made plans to change its retirement age for the first time in 70 years. The retirement age for women working in office roles will increase from 50 to 55, the age for women in manual jobs from 55 to 58, and the age for all men from 60 to 63. The increase will occur gradually over a period of 15 years. Citizens are not happy with this change, but China, in the face of an age imbalance throughout the nation, was not left with much of a choice.

China is facing a surge in the older population and a lack of working-age citizens. One of the factors of this is the one-child policy that the Chinese government administered to combat overpopulation from 1979 to 2015. China is trying to bolster its economy by making its population work longer, accounting for the loss of working-age citizens.

It is debatable whether or not the US is also facing a similar situation. Social Security is a system that supports the nation’s retired population, and its funding is predicted to be depleted by the 2030s. Measures may have to be taken to protect this beneficial system as its supply of money dwindles, and raising the retirement age may occur to do this. The US national retirement age, corresponding to eligibility for Social Security, is 67.

Cites –

https://finance.yahoo.com/

https://www.ssa.gov/

https://www.livescience.com

https://www.forbes.com