经济学人：93岁还上班，老人为什么不敢退休？

作者：经济学人      来源：一天一篇外刊

HONDA TAMIKO began working as a child on her family’s farm back when Japan was at war with America. Now 93, Ms Honda still puts in a hard day’s toil as a janitor at a McDonald’s branch in Kumamoto, in southern Japan. Ms Honda says her pension is plenty to live off; she chooses to keep showing up. “Humans are animals, after all,” she chuckles. “We have to keep moving as much as we can.

早在日美交战的战争年代，还是少女的本田多美子便在自家农场劳作。如今已是 93 岁高龄的她，仍在日本南部熊本县的一家麦当劳门店担任保洁员，每日勤恳上班。本田女士表示，养老金完全足够度日，坚持工作完全是自己的选择。她笑着补充道：“人说到底也是动物，活着就要尽量多动、多做事。”

Ms Honda is the oldest in McDonald’s crew of some 220,000 in Japan. But she is less an outlier than a harbinger. As people live longer, they are staying healthy for longer and working longer, too. Japan and its neighbour South Korea, two of the most rapidly ageing countries, are at the forefront of this transition. Nearly 40% of South Koreans and more than 25% of Japanese aged above 65 remain at work, the highest rates in the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries (see chart). But labour markets and social systems designed for a different demographic era struggle to make the most of those who can work and to support those who can’t.

本田女士是日本麦当劳约22万名员工中年纪最大的一位。但她并非特例，而是社会趋势的缩影与前兆。如今人类寿命不断延长，健康年限随之增加，老龄群体的工作年限也在拉长。日韩是全球老龄化进程最快的国家，正处在这一社会变革的最前端。经合组织（由多数发达国家组成）数据显示：韩国 65 岁以上人群就业率接近 40%，日本超 25%，均位居经合组织成员国之首。但现行的劳动力市场与社会体系，都是为过往的人口结构所构建，既无法充分盘活尚有劳动能力的老年人，也难以妥善安置和保障丧失劳动能力的群体。

Many people in both Japan and South Korea keep working out of necessity. More than half of elderly employees in Japan say they work for income. The financial pressure is even greater in South Korea, where the pension system failed to keep pace with the country’s rapid development after the Korean war, leaving generations of people with inadequate support. The average public pension replaces only about a third of workers’ pre-retirement income, so nearly 40% of South Koreans over 65 make less than half the median income, the highest rate in the OECD. Many in South Korea fear being made to retire too early: bus drivers in Seoul went on strike earlier this year demanding that the retirement age be raised. “In the past, 65 was considered quite elderly, but now, even at 65, people live a youthful life,” says Shin Gyo-beom, who drives Seoul’s bus number 107. “Wouldn’t it be better for someone more experienced to drive?”

日韩不少老年人坚持工作，多是生活所迫。日本超半数老年从业者坦言，上班就是为了补贴收入。韩国的经济压力则更为严峻：朝鲜战争后韩国经济飞速腾飞，但养老金体系建设严重滞后，好几代老年人都缺乏完善的晚年保障。韩国公共养老金的收入替代率仅约三成，也正因如此，韩国 65 岁以上老人中，近四成收入不足国民收入中位数的一半，该比例高居经合组织国家首位。不少韩国人忧心被迫过早退休。今年年初，首尔公交司机就曾发起罢工，诉求是延迟退休年龄。首尔 107 路公交司机申教范感慨：“从前 65 岁已是垂暮之年，可如今到了这个年纪，身子骨依旧硬朗、生活状态依旧年轻。让经验更丰富的老司机继续上岗，难道不是更合理吗？”

Across East Asia, studies show older people who keep working tend to be less frail and less likely to report depressive symptoms. (The direction of causality is hard to establish, however.) Ro Ick-kyun, a 60-year-old from Hanam, east of Seoul, has had several jobs since he retired from his original career as a corporate executive. “My wife says when I work I seem younger and more full of energy,” he smiles.

多项东亚相关研究表明，坚持工作的老年人，身体衰弱程度更低，抑郁情绪的发生率也更小。不过，二者之间的因果关系目前尚难以界定。家住首尔东部河南市的 60 岁老人卢益均，早年是企业高管，退休后又辗转做了好几份工作。他笑着坦言：“老伴总说，我一上班忙活起来，整个人看着更年轻、精气神也足多了。”

作者：经济学人      来源：一天一篇外刊