Young Chinese express their anger towards the Chinese Communist Party’s plan to delay the statutory retirement age, questioning how the younger generation will be able to live in such circumstances. Social media posts have sparked a wave of resonance among netizens, with discussions on platforms like Weibo revolving around the topic of advancing the retirement age reform which has been a hot topic since Sunday, July 21.
On Xiaohongshu (Red), discussions on “retirement age” had attracted around 100 million views by the morning of Tuesday, July 23. However, this topic was soon conspicuously suppressed by the Chinese authorities after gaining momentum among netizens.
One netizen wrote, “They complain when I’m born, they complain when I’m little, they complain about my age when I seek a job, and now they complain about my youth when it comes to retirement. Thanks to them, we are still walking to work leaning on canes at 65.”
Many netizens have expressed doubts regarding the incremental approach to raising the statutory retirement age by authorities, which they claim is based on voluntary and flexible principles.
One netizen questioned, “A ‘voluntary’ postponement of retirement age? Is it like the previous generation being ‘voluntarily’ forced to have only one child or accept layoffs from state-owned enterprises?”
Another netizen commented, “While pushing for more births, the unemployment rate continues to rise, retirement age is being put off, we must come to terms with the fact that this era is one where the people serve the government.”
A netizen asked, “If delaying retirement is for the sake of the elderly, then have the elderly agreed to this delay?”
Some believe it will be a case of “voluntary first, then compulsory, as long as retirement is postponed.”
Despite the Chinese Communist Party’s continuous efforts to raise the retirement age, the formal announcement of the policy has still frightened the youth. With China’s economy striving to recover from the real estate crisis, young people are already concerned about record-long working hours and poor employment opportunities.
A popular comment on Weibo reads, “Please note: delaying retirement age only means you will receive your pension later. It does not guarantee you will have a job before that!”
Some netizens outright criticize it as a word game, stating, “Playing word games, you can ‘volunteer’ now, but without reaching the statutory retirement age, you won’t receive your pension. What you are extending is the time to receive your retirement pay, can’t retirement be anytime now?”
Following the announcement of the delayed retirement by the CCP, although the authorities did not provide detailed explanations, the Chinese public swiftly interpreted it as a “retirement delayed until 65,” leading to a surge of discussions on retirement and sparking anger among the populace.
A netizen commented, “After 35 years old, you’re jobless, then you can only receive your retirement at 65, meaning 30 years eating the wind.”
An investment blogger from Shanghai wrote on Weibo, “Young people can’t find jobs, can’t leave school, the elderly work too hard and can’t retire. What kind of chaos is this?”
The Chinese authorities have cracked down on industries that used to offer the most job opportunities for college graduates, such as technology, real estate, and education training, resulting in the disappearance of many job positions in the market. Moreover, structural mismatches have exacerbated the issue as graduates prefer white-collar jobs over blue-collar ones, and factories struggle to recruit workers due to low wages.
As China enters a period of rapid population decline, the generational disparity in retirement age highlights the challenges faced by Beijing’s leadership. The increasing imbalance between the working-age population and the elderly population is an issue they cannot ignore.
The CCP has found that the previous early retirement policies, where women could retire as early as 50, have accelerated the rise in China’s elderly dependency ratio — the ratio of elderly population to the working-age population.
As the number of retirees in need of support grows and the younger workforce contributing to the pension fund decreases, Beijing fears that the pension reserves will soon be depleted.
A report by the China Social Sciences Academy in 2019 warned that the urban workers’ basic pension insurance fund could be completely exhausted by 2035.
Experts suggest that Beijing will need more than simple policy changes to address the demographic crisis.
Sabrina Luk, Assistant Professor of Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, stated in an interview with Business Insider, “Can increasing the retirement age truly ensure the sustainability of the pension system? This is a question mark. It’s not that simple.”
As one of the countries facing the most severe aging problem in the world, China’s average life expectancy has risen from 44 years in 1960 to 78 years in 2021, according to official Chinese data. By 2050, the average life expectancy of Chinese people is expected to exceed 80 years.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) estimated that China’s elderly dependency ratio (people aged 65 and above compared to those aged 15-64) was 21% in 2023, lower than the United States’ ratio of 27%.
By 2050, China’s elderly dependency ratio is projected to reach 52%, surpassing the U.S. ratio of 39%. By 2100, this figure is expected to climb to 83% for China and 55% for the U.S.
A Chinese netizen on overseas social media platform X remarked, “It’s a cruel blow to the majority of ordinary people when you (referring to the CCP) mention delaying retirement. China’s situation is different from developed countries. China should first solve issues like universal healthcare, pensions, education, and housing for all before considering retirement age extension.”
Furthermore, the lack of high-quality jobs could exacerbate China’s demographic crisis even further.
“It’s hard for young people to find jobs, and the elderly can’t retire. What are you doing? How dare you encourage people to have three children?” a Weibo user commented, referring to Beijing’s plan to increase the declining population in China.
A white-collar worker named Mr. Qi, interviewed by the Financial Times, expressed concern that young people now have to work tirelessly and struggle hard, where whether they can live to 60 is uncertain.
“Even if they live until 60, can they still receive their pension?” the 28-year-old social elite questioned. “For post-90s and the generations after, this is extremely challenging.”
Apart from the youth, the middle-aged sandwiched between generations also feel injustice regarding the circumstances of their generation. They expressed that the older generation enjoyed welfare benefits (housing allocation, free education, etc.) from a young age and reaped the rewards of China’s rapid economic growth and plentiful opportunities over the past few decades.
“The current group of retirees has overly benefited from the country’s development dividends,” remarked a 51-year-old engineer named Gong in Beijing to the Financial Times.