Japan, short of workers, eyes hiking optional pension age beyond 70
Japan has okayed plans to let people choose to start drawing their state pensions beyond the age of 70 as it grapples with severe labour shortages, ballooning welfare costs and a shrivelling tax base stemming from its greying population.
The government said on Friday it would look to cement the proposals through legal changes after April 2020, adding that it would look at raising in stages the mandatory retirement age for some 3.4 million civil servants to 65 from the current 60.
Japanese people can currently choose to start receiving their pensions at any point between the ages of 60 and 70, with bigger monthly payments offered to those who do so after their 65th birthdays.
Read More: Reuters
