China is in the middle of its own retirement crisis as many older people cannot afford to stop working

Elderly lady washing vegetables inside a tulou in Fujian, China. Sheng Li/Reuters

• China is grappling with a retirement crisis as its population ages.
• According to OECD data, people over the age of 60 account for 13% of the country’s workforce. 
• China is anticipating another 300 million people to reach retirement age in the next 10 years.

China is going through a retirement crisis, with a significant portion of older people finding that they can’t afford to stop working.

Citing data from the OECD, Reuters reported on Tuesday that of the 734 million people working in China, 94 million, or 13%, are over the age of 60, the retirement age for men in China. That rivals the share of workers who are of retirement age in the US, where 10%-15% are aged 60 or older.

The proportion of older people in the workforce has risen dramatically in the last few years, up from just 8% recorded in 2020. That’s largely due to China’s rapidly aging population, with officials anticipating 300 million people to reach retirement age over the next 10 years, according to OECD data. That’s nearly half of China’s workforce and not much smaller than the entire US population.

The demographic imbalance has put a huge strain on government benefits, especially considering China’s high youth unemployment rate, meaning less money is added to the pool of available resources to keep people afloat in retirement.

Monthly pensions in urban areas range from 3,000 yuan to 6,000 yuan, Reuters reported, which is equivalent to $415-$830 dollars in the US. Pension payments, at a minimum, are 123 yuan a month, the equivalent of $17.

The situation mirrors some of what is going on in the US, with an aging population and a growing number of older people being forced to work past retirement age in order to keep paying the bills.

Over 30 million baby boomers are nearing retirement without enough saved and over half of Americans over the age of 65 make less than $30,000 a year, according to 2022 Census data.

Meanwhile, 38% of older Americans would live under the poverty line if it weren’t for Social Security payments, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found, though the Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees said in a recent report that the program will only be able to pay out full benefits for the next 11 years or so.

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