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as physical factors fade, more and more newly created jobs may be suitable for people in their 30s or 70s.

written by ren dagang

on september 7, at a financial summit, cai fang, chairman of the academic committee of the china finance 40 forum and chief expert of the national high-end think tank of the chinese academy of social sciences, said that although the proportion of my country's total population in the world is declining year by year, the size of the elderly population is very large and the proportion of my country's elderly population is constantly increasing.

cai fang said that this group should be regarded as the driving force of china's modernization rather than a burden. only by transforming this group into human resources and consumers can china's modernization be supported.

01

a strange contradiction

professor cai fang is a demographer. he was born in 1956 and is 68 years old this year, but he is still active in the academic front. through his personal practice, he has proved that as long as one has practical work ability, age is not a prerequisite for work.

however, there are very few people like professor cai fang who are still "voluntarily" active at the front line of work at the age of 60.many people in their 40s actively or passively wait for retirement, which leads to a strange phenomenon in the whole society:

on the one hand, the number of newborns has dropped drastically, and many people are worried about what to do if there are not enough people in the future; on the other hand, they are also worried that more and more people have nothing to do before they "reach the age limit", and as the number of people who have "reached the age limit" increases, the burden is getting heavier.

picture/tuchong creative

this is really a strange contradiction.

perhaps, these are two issues. but the middle-aged and elderly people who represent the "present" and the infants who represent the "future" cannot be divided into two distinct groups. the "present" is shaping the "future". without the "present", there is no "future".therefore, the current problem is how to solve the shortage of jobs.

professor cai fang said that the key to transforming the elderly into human resources and consumers is to have jobs, otherwise they cannot become human resources. at the same time, only when they become human resources and have income can they become consumers.

02

older people provide jobs for younger people

some people will immediately say that there are not enough jobs for young people now, so where are the jobs for middle-aged and elderly people? do we have to find a way to let the elderly who receive pensions take the jobs of young people?

these rhetorical questions are quite tricky and difficult to answer.

from a static point of view, there are only so many jobs that society can provide within a certain period of time. if there are jobs for this group of people, there will be no jobs for that group of people.

but if you look at it dynamically, there are some opportunities.

for example, with the transfer of industries, many jobs have moved to southeast asia, india, mexico and other places, which mainly affects young people; for another example, with the rapid improvement of mechanization, automation and intelligence, repetitive labor that requires physical support has been greatly reduced, which also mainly affects the jobs of young people. these changes have little impact on middle-aged and elderly people over 50 years old.

picture/tuchong creative

however, as time goes by, as mechanization, automation and intelligence develop in depth, the age characteristics and even gender characteristics between positions may gradually disappear.

but it can also be said the other way around, that as physical factors fade, more and more newly created jobs may be suitable for people in their 30s or 70s.

from another perspective, the people in china who are currently retired or approaching retirement are the richest and most wealthy group in history.

they have money, "capital" or control capital, and many are in good health. they have both capital and labor, and are among the rare resource-rich countries in the world.if we can help them get back on track and continue working, it will not only solve their own employment problems, but also provide more jobs for young people.

in view of this, professor cai fang believes that "this group should be used as the driving force for china's modernization." unfortunately, professor cai fang's ideal is far from becoming a reality. what is the reason?

03

60-year-old limit

when talking about employment for the elderly, one naturally thinks of the situation in japan.

according to relevant data, the most common occupation among japan's elderly employees is agriculture (including planting, breeding, and pruning gardening), and 52.6% are over 65 years old. security guards, waiters, drivers, cleaners, traffic guides, caregivers, and cashiers are also the most concentrated positions for japan's elderly.

a few years ago, there was a saying that my country's agriculture relied on the "3861 unit" and the "99 unit", meaning that rural women, children and the elderly undertook most of the farm work, and people over 50 years old became the main force in china's agricultural production.

similar to japan, agriculture is the most common occupation among older workers in our country.the difference is that the average annual income of a japanese farmer is nearly 500,000 rmb, which is higher than the average annual income of a japanese civil servant of 300,000 rmb.

another difference is that due to the "one-size-fits-all" employment and retirement systems, it is almost impossible for people over 60 in china to work as security guards, waiters, drivers, cleaners, traffic guides, caregivers, or cashiers unless they are "self-employed." anyone who has been to japan knows that these jobs are filled with a large number of japanese people over 60 years old.

▲stills from "legal high" (picture/video screenshot)

some say that the reason why these industries employ so many workers is because of insufficient pensions, which is indeed a reason. but the more important reason is the shortage of labor. behind the shortage of labor is the strong demand for these types of jobs. imagine if china opened up the restrictions on the employment of these types of jobs, the chinese, who have always been hardworking, would instantly fill these jobs.

today, the "one-size-fits-all" employment and retirement systems need to cope with the challenges of increased work freedom and reduced physical restrictions. either the employment and retirement systems must be changed, or the increase in work freedom and the reduction in physical restrictions must be prevented.

04

it is illegal to work over the age of 60

in the past few years, there have been reports from time to time that the competent authorities have cleared out elderly migrant workers over 60 years old from construction sites in china. in fact, in other industries, employers will not sign labor contracts with people over 60 years old. because the employment is "illegal", the contract is invalid.

in contrast, employment for the elderly in japan is protected by legislation.

in 1986, japan's "employment promotion law for middle-aged and elderly people" was renamed "employment security law for elderly people", which stipulates that companies have the obligation to employ workers until the age of 60. in 2004, the "employment security law for elderly people" was amended to stipulate that employers must ensure the employment of elderly people under the age of 65.

in 2013, the revised "law on employment stability for the elderly" was officially implemented. the law stipulates that enterprises have an obligation to take measures to protect employment for the elderly, especially for those who are 60 years old or above and are willing to work, they should be guaranteed to work until the age of 65.

at present, most japanese companies have implemented a policy of delaying retirement and have established a system for continuing to employ older employees. in october 2018, at the 20th "future investment conference" attended by then japanese prime minister shinzo abe, the focus of the discussion was on how to ensure that healthy and willing elderly people can work until the age of 70.

picture/tuchong creative

comparing the two, we can say that this country is not very friendly to elderly employment.

the elderly have money and almost no restrictions on employment, and this, coupled with an aging population, has resulted in elderly people accounting for almost one-third of entrepreneurs in japan. the "white paper on small and medium enterprises" once released by the small and medium enterprises agency under the ministry of economy, trade and industry of japan shows that from 1979 to 2012, the average age of japanese entrepreneurs increased, and the proportion of elderly people increased. by 2012, entrepreneurs over the age of 60 accounted for 32.4%.

the japanese government's support for elderly entrepreneurs is also obvious. the small and medium enterprise agency can provide subsidies of up to 2 million yen to companies founded by entrepreneurs over 60 years old that employ the elderly. through the "old entrepreneur support fund" loan system of the japan finance corporation, elderly entrepreneurs can obtain loans of up to 72 million yen, and the annual interest rate is less than 1.5%. in order to encourage the elderly to start businesses, the japanese government has also amended the "commercial law" to give preferential treatment in terms of registered capital and lower the threshold.

comparing the two, you will find that our country has almost no support policies for elderly entrepreneurs.

05

the first step is to abolish the 35-year-old limit

what should china do? how can we achieve professor cai fang's goal of making the elderly the driving force of china's modernization, rather than a burden?

i believe that the first step is to abolish the 35-year-old limit for civil service recruitment.

some people may ask, what is the relationship between employment and entrepreneurship for the elderly and the 35-year-old limit?

the 35-year-old limit was set in the 1980s based on the "younger cadres" policy, with the goal of vigorously promoting young people under the age of 35 to join the cadre team and replenish fresh blood for reform and opening up. this was very reasonable in changing the problem of the generally older age of cadres in party and government departments and enterprises and institutions within the system at that time.

but the 35-year-old promotion limit soon became "no chance for those over 35". china has a deep tradition of "taking officials as teachers", and many private enterprises that have grown up later have followed suit, and explicitly required applicants to be "under 35 years old" in the recruitment conditions. some companies that consider themselves "wolf-like" have even more reason to fire employees "over 35 years old" in batches.

picture/tuchong creative

it has to be said that our country is one of the few countries that still has age discrimination in employment.

the panic caused by this regulation not only invisibly transmits and affects the learning and work attitudes of young people, but also forces employees who are around 30 years old and have just worked for a few years to join the cruel internal competition in order to gain a foothold before the age of 35; and it also causes employees over 35 years old to lose all opportunities simply because of their age, so there is a sense of pessimism and disappointment. they don’t work hard, just slack off at work, and look forward to retiring as soon as possible. the day of retirement is the day when the spirit is completely lost.

retirees are discriminated against because of their age and do not receive de facto respect; on the contrary, young people in their 20s are highly praised and flattered. the naturally radical ideas of young people are artificially amplified, causing endless troubles to the normal operation of the economy and society.

with the age limit of 35, what opportunities do older people have for employment and entrepreneurship?