China's elderly population is skyrocketing

China is known for its low-cost labor, but that may change according to a report by the China National Committee on Aging. According to the report, the population is growing at an alarming rate, with the elderly population growing even quicker. Right now, there is an estimated six workers to every one retiree.

The report states that by 2030 and 2050, there will only be two workers for every retiree, something that could definitely affect economic growth. Currently China’s population is near 1.3 billion, with 149 people over the age of 60. The report estimates that, by 2050, the number of people in China over 60 will rise to 437 million. This means that there will be fewer people of working age and a huge pressure on those people to support the climbing elderly population (echoes of the U.S. Social Security system).

While there have been economic reforms over the past thirty years, these reforms have merely turned China into the world’s cheapest labor. The pressure from these reforms has also caused the communist welfare system to disintegrate, a lack of social safety nets, and an increase in state-owned company layoffs.

The report predicts that this huge shift in the elderly population will be seen and felt as early as 2030.






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