China population: Beijing mulls eliminating gender gap in retirement age as demographic crisis looms

The retirement age for women in China is lower than that of men, reflecting work and child care burdens from decades ago. As China’s population ages and its work force declines, the retirement age gap is coming under scrutiny, with changes possible in the near future. This is the first of a series of stories on women’s issues in China and Asia to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Amid growing concern about a demographic crisis, China is moving closer to narrowing the age of retirement between men and women, a gap that has been blamed for stoking gender inequality and wasting human resources.

But to do so, experts say China will also need to overhaul its state pension system and childcare provisions.

For more than four decades, China’s retirement age has remained unchanged at 60 for men and 55 for women, though it can be earlier for women in blue-collar jobs.

It is mandatory for Chinese stop working once they hit their age and they are often unable to re-enter the job market, even if they want to work.

But as the world’s second largest economy moves away from mass manufacturing to focus on advanced technology production and services, the policy is increasingly anachronistic, experts said.

“Back when China’s development was driven by manufacturing and labour-intensive work, [because of] the physical difference between men and women, it made sense for women to retire early,” said Eva Zhang, a research statistician at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.