China has one of the world’s lowest retirement ages but that’s about to change the countries approved the plan to gradually raise the bar for the first time in more than 40 years the retirement age for men will increase from 60 to 63 while women’s will rise from 50 to 55 for most workers and 58 for those in management position State media reports earlier discussions of the plan triggered an outpouring of anger on social media where many complained about a sluggish job market some users also pointed out how employers often discriminate against older candidates a problem that the government last month vowed to address while raising the retirement age seeks to tackle China’s shrinking workin age population it could also affect the already high youth unemployment as older workers stay in their jobs longer Bloomberg economics fines but a bigger tax space and delayed access to benefits will relieve the pressure on the government to fund pensions as the population rapidly ages and labor force declines China’s population continues to drop with a birth rate falling to a record low in 2023