Why Raising Retirement Age Is No Cure-All for Population Problems

On March 10, the minister of human resources and social security, Yin Weimin, told the media that he expected a plan to raise the country's retirement age to be drafted this year and submitted to the central government for review in 2016. A new plan could be in practice as early as 2017, Yin said.

Why is the government so eager to raise the official retirement age, which is as low as 50 for some female workers? The reason is the country's worsening age demographics.