ID :
39660
Thu, 01/08/2009 - 23:49
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/39660
The shortlink copeid
SINGAPOREANS TO WORK UNTIL 65
By Zakaria Abdul Wahab
SINGAPORE, Jan 8 (Bernama) -- Singapore, concerned with the increasingly
ageing population, plans to allow its workers to work beyond the current
retirement age of 62 until the age of 65.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the government would require employers
to offer re-employment to workers for another three years when they reached 62
though not necessarily in the same job or at the same pay.
"We are legislating not to further delay the retirement age," Lee said at
the "Reinventing Retirement Asia: Employment and Active Engagement
Beyond 50" Conference organised by AARP (formerly known as American Association
of Retired Persons) and Singapore's Council for Third Age here Thursday.
Saying that population ageing affected all developed societies and brought
complex and multi-faceted challenges, Lee added that Singapore was adopting
similar steps taken by Japan in handling the ageing population by taking a more
flexible and practical approach.
He said Japan's population was already shrinking and Singapore was also
moving on a similar path although the situation in the city-state was not as
serious.
The prime minister said that by 2030 one-fifth of Singapore's population, or
nearly one million people, would be 65 years and older and this would be three
times the number today.
This was the result of lengthening life expectancy with better healthcare
and declining birth rates as more women remained single and couples had fewer
children, he said, adding that the life expectancy was around 80 today and still
going up.
He said the best way for people to adjust to a longer lifespan was to
continue working for as long as they could and to keep them occupied after
formal retirement.
"People today are healthier and the nature of work has changed. We can
continue to lead active and useful lives well into our old age," Lee added.
The prime minister said the government aimed to push the employment rate of
workers aged 55 to 64 from 57 per cent in 2008 to 65 per cent by 2012.
-- BERNAMA
SINGAPORE, Jan 8 (Bernama) -- Singapore, concerned with the increasingly
ageing population, plans to allow its workers to work beyond the current
retirement age of 62 until the age of 65.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the government would require employers
to offer re-employment to workers for another three years when they reached 62
though not necessarily in the same job or at the same pay.
"We are legislating not to further delay the retirement age," Lee said at
the "Reinventing Retirement Asia: Employment and Active Engagement
Beyond 50" Conference organised by AARP (formerly known as American Association
of Retired Persons) and Singapore's Council for Third Age here Thursday.
Saying that population ageing affected all developed societies and brought
complex and multi-faceted challenges, Lee added that Singapore was adopting
similar steps taken by Japan in handling the ageing population by taking a more
flexible and practical approach.
He said Japan's population was already shrinking and Singapore was also
moving on a similar path although the situation in the city-state was not as
serious.
The prime minister said that by 2030 one-fifth of Singapore's population, or
nearly one million people, would be 65 years and older and this would be three
times the number today.
This was the result of lengthening life expectancy with better healthcare
and declining birth rates as more women remained single and couples had fewer
children, he said, adding that the life expectancy was around 80 today and still
going up.
He said the best way for people to adjust to a longer lifespan was to
continue working for as long as they could and to keep them occupied after
formal retirement.
"People today are healthier and the nature of work has changed. We can
continue to lead active and useful lives well into our old age," Lee added.
The prime minister said the government aimed to push the employment rate of
workers aged 55 to 64 from 57 per cent in 2008 to 65 per cent by 2012.
-- BERNAMA
