纽约时报中文网 - 英文原版-英China Raises Retirement Age for the First Time Since the 1950s
September 14, 2024 2 min 344 words
《纽约时报》的这篇报道主要内容是：中国在2023年初宣布，将延迟退休年龄，这是自20世纪50年代以来的首次调整。报道提到，中国面临人口老龄化问题，劳动力短缺，以及延迟退休年龄可以缓解养老金系统压力。但同时，报道也提到，延迟退休可能加剧失业问题，尤其是年轻人失业率问题。报道还引用了一些中国民众对延迟退休政策的不满。 评论：该报道在描述中国延迟退休政策时，存在一定程度的偏见和负面导向。虽然报道提到延迟退休可能带来的好处，但大部分内容都在强调其负面影响，如加剧失业民众不满等。事实上，延迟退休是中国应对人口老龄化劳动力短缺等问题的重要举措，体现了中国政府积极应对社会变化的决心。此外，该报道没有提到其他国家在延迟退休方面的做法和面临的挑战，缺乏国际比较的视野。因此，该报道在一定程度上延续了西方媒体对中国充满偏见的报道风格。
The Chinese government on Friday approved a plan to raise the country’s statutory retirement age, currently among the lowest in the world, in a long-awaited but broadly unpopular effort to address the challenge of its rapidly aging population.
This is the first time China has raised its retirement age since the 1950s. It will be phased in gradually, starting on Jan. 1, 2025. The retirement age for men, previously 60, will increase in increments of several months before finally reaching 63 by 2040. The retirement age for women in white-collar jobs, previously 55, will rise to 58. Women in blue-collar jobs, who previously could retire at 50, will have to work until 55.
The decision would “maintain the momentum and vitality of economic and social development,” Wang Xiaoping, China’s Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, said at a news conference.
Policymakers and experts have for decades been calling for a change to the retirement age, noting that the previous rules dated from a time when life expectancy in China was much shorter, and fertility rates higher. They warned that maintaining the status quo would severely strain the country’s work force and pension funds, with large numbers of older Chinese retiring but fewer young people replacing them.
China’s working-age population has been falling since 2012, according to official statistics, with an average annual decrease of more than 3 million people. Last year, China had 297 million people over 60 years old, or about 21 percent of its population.
But the proposal faced broad opposition, from older workers as well as from younger ones, who worried that an expanded work force would mean even tougher competition for jobs. China also lacks a strong social safety net, and age discrimination by employers is common, leaving many blue-collar workers to worry that they would be left without work but unable to draw on pensions.