The gradual delay in the implementation of the statutory retirement age is getting closer-delayed retirement has limited impact on young people's employment
The Economic Daily News reported on December 21 that the recently announced "Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and Long-Term Goals for 2035" proposed that the statutory retirement age be gradually delayed.
This expression has received great attention from the society.
How to postpone retirement?
Will it affect employment?
The reporter interviewed relevant officials and industry experts from the Pension Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
The relevant person in charge of the Pension Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said that the average life expectancy in my country has increased from about 40 years in the early days of the founding of New China to 77.3 years in 2019.
However, the statutory retirement ages of 60 for men, 55 for female cadres, and 50 for female workers set in the early days of the founding of New China have not been adjusted in the past 70 years.
Experts said that with the significant changes in the economy and society, the average life expectancy has increased significantly, the aging trend of the population has accelerated, and the current low retirement age is no longer compatible with the current economic and social environment.
Professor Li Changan of the University of International Business and Economics said in an interview with reporters that the implementation of a gradual delay in the legal retirement age is an important part of the implementation of a proactive population policy. It is also an important task in the "14th Five-Year Plan" and the 2035 long-term goal proposal.
In order to cope with the impact of population aging, raising the retirement age has become a universal reform method in the process of social security reforms in countries around the world.
Will delaying the statutory retirement age aggravate employment difficulties?
There is a view that if the old do not retire, the young will not get in.
But in fact, the labor market is not an absolute one-to-one relationship.
Relevant experts said that from the perspective of employment structure, delays in retirement in the future will affect the employment of young people, but this impact is limited.
"Delayed retirement will have a certain crowding-out effect on employment, but the effect is not large. Because there is a big difference between the jobs of the elderly and the jobs of the young. The employment opportunities of young people are more dependent on economic development and industrial transformation and upgrading, so Jobs occupied by delayed retirement will not absolutely replace employment opportunities for young people. In addition, my country has millions of retirees every year. Compared with the workforce of more than 700 million, the number of workers entering the ranks of delayed retirement is not large. "Li Changan said.
In Li Changan’s view, after the implementation of the gradual delay in retirement, the payment period will increase, and the pension level of the corresponding group will also increase. Therefore, the income increase of the pension insurance fund should also be mainly used to improve the pension benefits of the delayed retirement group. A situation that is favorable but disadvantageous to other people.
Some people worry that the implementation of delayed retirement is because the pension is not enough?
In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the Pension Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security stated that ensuring that basic pensions are paid on time and in full and guaranteeing the basic life of retirees is the country’s original intention and mission to establish a basic pension insurance system, and it is also the “bottom line” and "Red Line".
"Judging from the actual operation of the corporate pension insurance fund in the first three quarters of this year, the overall situation is relatively stable, or even better than expected. From the perspective of fund revenue and expenditure, the total income is 2.1 trillion yuan, and the total expenditure is 2.8 trillion yuan. Although short-term income is lower than However, the country has full confidence and ability to ensure that pensions are paid on time and in full." The person in charge of the Pension Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said that in terms of system construction, pensions have been paid for a long time. Fundamental institutional arrangements. This year, all provinces and cities will achieve unified revenue and expenditure at the provincial level.
Standardized provincial-level overall planning can not only further improve the ability of the province's endowment insurance funds to be deployed and used in a unified manner, ensure the province's pension payment, but also lay a good foundation for the next step of national overall planning.
When will the delayed retirement be out of schedule?
In September of this year, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security responded to netizens’ questions about the delayed retirement policy, saying that they are in accordance with the deployment and requirements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council to adapt to the needs of population aging and life expectancy, and carefully study relevant policies and measures.
Li Changan believes that from the perspective of rhythm, extending the retirement age from legislation to the implementation of reforms often has a certain time lag, and it will gradually reach the target age over a long period of time.
There are also people who worry about the age of pension. "Assuming that they live to 80 and retire at 60, they can receive 20 years of pension; if they are delayed to 65, they can only receive 15 years."
The relevant person in charge of the Pension Insurance Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said that the pension level of insured persons is closely related to the length of payment time and the amount of payment. The longer the payment time and more of the insured person, the higher the level of benefits after retirement.
"An important principle of the gradual delay in retirement is to respect the individual wishes of the workers in the system design. For this reason, the delay in retirement reform should be promoted in a coordinated manner with the reform of the pension insurance calculation method and the adjustment method to form Pay more to get the mechanism." Li Changan said.
Our reporter Han Bingzhi