4 out of 10 Japanese people plan to work even after the age of 70… “Because of financial instability”

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When asked about ‘anxiety about the future’, 70% answered ‘living funds’
In the 2018-2022 survey, the number one item in the same category was ‘health’
Japanese companies are pursuing policies to abolish the retirement age and increase the age.

Nikkei reported on the 19th that in a postal poll conducted by Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) from October to November 2023, 39% responded ’70 or older’ to the question ‘How old do you plan to work until?’ did.

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This is the highest figure since Nikkei started its ‘Public Opinion Survey on Work Style and Social Security’ in 2018. 21% responded that they were ‘70 to 74 years old’ and 18% responded that they were ‘75 years old or older.’ The number of respondents who said they were ‘75 years old or older’ increased by 5 percentage points compared to the 2018 survey.

‘60-64 years old’ was 11%, and ‘65-69 years old’ was 27%. The average age for retirement consideration was 68.4 years, an increase of 1.8 years from 2018.

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To the question, ‘What makes you anxious about your future (multiple answers possible)’, the most common response at 70% was ‘economic aspects such as living funds.’ In the 2018-2022 survey, ‘health’ ranked first.

In response, Nikkei explained, “Economic difficulties appear to be one of the reasons why Japanese people continue to work.”

When asked, ‘What efforts do you make to prepare for the future (multiple responses are possible)’, the top response rate was ‘Deposits/Savings’ at 61%. This was followed by ‘insurance and personal pension subscription’ at 33% and ‘investment in trusts, stocks, etc.’ at 22%.

This survey was conducted by Nikkei Research by randomly selecting men and women over the age of 18 nationwide, and 1,607 responses were obtained.

According to Nikkei, Japanese companies are seeking to abolish or raise the retirement age. Nojima, an electronics sales company, abolished the age limit in 2021 and currently has about 40 employees over 70 years old.

YKK Group, a manufacturing company, also abolished the 65-year-old retirement age in its domestic business division in Japan in 2021. Sumamoto Chemicals plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 65 starting April this year.

In order to promote employment of the elderly, the Japanese government implemented the revised Employment Security Act for the Elderly in 2021, which aims to guarantee employment for the elderly population until the age of 70.

According to a survey last year by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the proportion of companies that abolished the retirement age or set it to 65 or older was 30.8%, up 1.4 percentage points from the previous year.

Source: Donga

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