Description:
This paper highlights the employment
patterns of China's over-45 population and, for
perspective, places them in the context of work and
retirement patterns in Indonesia, Korea, the United States,
and the United Kingdom. As is common in many developing
countries, China can be characterized as having two
retirement systems: a formal system, under which urban
employees receive generous pensions and face mandatory
retirement by age 60, and an informal system, under which
rural residents and individuals in the informal sector rely
on family support in old age and have much longer working
lives. Gender differences in age of exit from work are shown
to be much greater in urban China than in rural areas, and
also greater than observed in Korea and Indonesia.
Descriptive evidence is presented suggesting that pension
eligible workers are far more likely to cease productive
activity at a relatively young age. A strong relationship
between health status and labor supply in rural areas is
observed, indicating the potential role that improvements in
access to health care may play in extending working lives
and also providing some basis for a common perception that
older rural residents tend to work as long as they are
physically capable. The paper concludes with a discussion of
measures that may facilitate longer working lives as
China's population ages.