Progressive, flexible, and differentiated implementation-authoritative experts look forward to postponing retirement reform trends
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 13 -
Question: progressive, flexible, differently implemented - experts prospective delay retirement reform movements
Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Lin
The "14th Five-Year Plan" announced on the 12th and the 2035 long-term goal outline clearly stated that the legal retirement age should be gradually delayed in accordance with the principles of "small-step adjustment, flexible implementation, classified promotion, and overall planning."
What do these principles refer to?
How to change it next?
The reporter interviewed Jin Weigang, president of the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Sciences of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.
Small step adjustments-delayed by a few months every year or 1 month every few months
Jin Weigang: The simple understanding of small-step adjustment means that the postponement of retirement reform will not be "one step in place", but will adopt gradual reforms and implement them gradually in smaller steps, with a delay of several months every year or one month every few months. Generally flat.
In other words, after the implementation of the policy, the retirement age line will slowly be pushed back.
For example, women who originally retire at the age of 50 will retire at the age of 50 for one month or a few months in the first year after the policy is implemented.
People of different age groups have different retirement ages.
By analogy, the reform will be completed after a transition period of several years.
What is certain is that in the early stage of the reform, people who are about to retire will only be delayed by one month or a few months, and they will not retire a few years later.
For young people, the extended retirement age will be larger, but there will be a long transition and adaptation period in the future.
Flexible implementation-individuals will have the space to choose early retirement
Jing Weigang: Delaying retirement will not be a “one size fits all”. It is not that everyone must reach the delayed legal retirement age before they can retire, but to reflect a certain degree of flexibility and increase the space for individuals to choose early retirement.
This is the biggest and most important feature of delayed retirement reform.
Objectively speaking, there are big differences in terms of the employment stability and work intensity of different occupational groups, different positions, or personal physical conditions, family needs and value pursuits, and the resulting demands are different. Some people want to work more, and some people want to retire early.
To delay retirement reform, these diversified needs should be fully considered.
On the basis of unified implementation, combined with our country’s actual national conditions, cultural traditions, and historical evolution, we will increase flexibility factors, allowing individuals to choose a specific time for early retirement based on their own circumstances and conditions, which fully reflects the flexibility and inclusiveness of the reform.
Classification promotion-different groups and different genders will continue to maintain differences in retirement age
King Weigang: Delaying retirement is not about "going in step", but to smoothly integrate with the current retirement policy.
The current legal retirement age in my country is 60 for male employees, 55 for female cadres, and 50 for female workers. The policies are different.
The implementation of the delayed retirement reform will distinguish between different groups, adopt an appropriate rhythm, steadily advance, and gradually put it in place.
Regarding the existing policy differences in different occupations, regions, and positions, policy continuity will be maintained after the reform to ensure an orderly connection before and after policy adjustments and a smooth transition.
Overall planning-supporting policies and safeguard measures need to be promoted in coordination
King Weigang: Delaying retirement cannot "advance alone."
The postponement of retirement reform is a systematic project, and there are many supporting policies and safeguard measures related to it, which require overall planning and coordinated advancement.
On the one hand, some policies related to the retirement age in the past must be adjusted accordingly with the delay of retirement; on the other hand, the delayed retirement reform will also bring some new problems and new challenges, and corresponding supporting measures need to be followed up in time.
For example, how to promote the employment and entrepreneurship of older workers through more targeted measures?
How to provide more social security subsidies to people with employment difficulties, especially those with flexible employment, to help them re-employ?
How to further increase the protection of older unemployed persons and develop jobs suitable for older workers?
There are also amendments to relevant laws and regulations and so on.
Only when overall planning and supporting measures are in place can we ensure the smooth implementation and smooth implementation of the delayed retirement reform.