Should the retirement age be increased to 65?

VTV.vn - Delegate Truong Xuan Cu (Hanoi delegation) said that it is not possible to increase the retirement age to 65 years old immediately, there needs to be time and a clear roadmap.

At the discussion session on the socio -economic situation on October 30, delegate Nguyen Thien Nhan (Ho Chi Minh City delegation) proposed raising the retirement age to 65 with the expectation of having 5 million workers to serve the target of double-digit economic growth. This proposal quickly received the attention of the people.

According to the 2019 Labor Code, employees who meet the conditions on social insurance payment period as prescribed are entitled to receive pension when reaching retirement age.

The retirement age under normal working conditions is adjusted according to the roadmap until reaching 62 years old for men in 2028 and 60 years old for women in 2035.

Can't increase retirement age to 65 right away?

Discussing this issue on the sidelines of the National Assembly, delegate Truong Xuan Cu ( Hanoi delegation) said that it is not possible to increase the retirement age to 65 years old immediately, it needs time and a clear roadmap.

According to the delegate, we are currently in the process of gradually raising the retirement age to 62 for men, and this goal is expected to be completed by 2028.

"Thus, we should wait at least five years after completing the current roadmap before considering further adjustments," said Mr. Cu.

Delegate Cu also said that in the world , currently, very few countries have set the retirement age at 65. Vietnam is in the transition phase to an aging population, but it is expected that it will enter the aging population phase around 2030.

"Therefore, continuing to increase the retirement age at this time is too early, without enough scientific and practical basis," Mr. Cu shared.

Delegate Truong Xuan Cu (Hanoi delegation)

In addition, it is necessary to consider the labor and health characteristics of Vietnamese people. If the retirement age is raised to 65, it is necessary to carefully evaluate whether workers meet the requirements of health, productivity and working conditions.

In the future, delegates believe that it is possible to study and apply increasing the retirement age for some specific groups of occupations, such as professors, doctors, scientists - those who work in research, teaching or highly specialized fields that do not require much physical strength. However, this also needs to be tested, summarized and evaluated in practice before being widely applied.

Commenting on the proposal to extend the retirement age to 65, delegate Trinh Thi Tu Anh (Lam Dong delegation) agreed that this is a necessary solution to cope with the aging population and shortage of high-quality labor in Vietnam, especially when the young labor force is decreasing due to low birth rate and low quality of human resources.

According to experts, increasing the retirement age to 65 years old will help increase the labor force by 5 million, meeting the demand for double-digit growth in Vietnam in the coming time. However, delegate Tu Anh said that the problem lies not in increasing the number of laborers but the key factor for growth must be increasing labor productivity.

Therefore, delegate Tu Anh believes that the proposal to raise the retirement age to 65 is only really suitable for highly skilled workers such as professors, doctors, and engineers - people who are in good health and have less physically strenuous work.

Delegate Trinh Thi Tu Anh (Lam Dong delegation)

A recent statistical report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the average life expectancy in Vietnam is 73.64 years old, but the healthy life expectancy is only 65.4 years old (of which, men are 62.8 years old and women are 68 years old). More than 70% of people over 60 years old have at least 3 chronic diseases.

For unskilled workers (such as factory workers, farmers or manual laborers), extending the retirement age to 65 may not be feasible, leading to reduced productivity, occupational accident risks and health burdens.

Besides, with the development of science and technology, innovation and digital transformation, young workers can easily access and meet new technology requirements.

"Therefore, I propose a roadmap classification: Applying the retirement age of 65 for intellectual and office workers, while ordinary workers maintain the current roadmap (men 62 years old in 2028, women 60 years old in 2035), combined with a career transition training program and periodic medical support to ensure fairness.

Comprehensive assessment needed

Speaking more about this issue, delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (Ho Chi Minh City delegation) said that extending the retirement age is an issue that needs to be considered comprehensively and scientifically.

According to the delegate, the life expectancy of Vietnamese people is increasing and their health is also better, so extending the retirement age is something that can be considered. However, sociologists need to research, investigate, synthesize and evaluate carefully, because this issue is also closely related to the economic story.

Delegate Nguyen Quang Huan (Ho Chi Minh City delegation)

Mr. Huan said that there are also opinions that instead of extending the retirement age, we should create conditions for the young generation to have more development opportunities, this is also a noteworthy point of view. However, in the context of Vietnam's development, human resources may be in short supply, so increasing the retirement age is reasonable.

"Many people at the age of 62, 63 are still very healthy, clear-headed, and can continue to contribute," he shared.

However, delegate Nguyen Quang Huan emphasized that if considering the option of raising the retirement age to 65, comprehensive assessments from sociological and economic perspectives are needed to determine how effective labor is at that age, from which appropriate decisions can be made.

Source: https://vtv.vn/co-nen-tang-tuoi-nghi-huu-len-65-100251106120945343.htm