Giles, JohnWang, DewenCai, Wei2012-03-192012-03-192011-10-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/3619This paper highlights the employment patterns of China's over-45 population and, for perspective, places them in the context of work and retirement patterns in Indonesia, Korea, the United States, and the United Kingdom. As is common in many developing countries, China can be characterized as having two retirement systems: a formal system, under which urban employees receive generous pensions and face mandatory retirement by age 60, and an informal system, under which rural residents and individuals in the informal sector rely on family support in old age and have much longer working lives. Gender differences in age of exit from work are shown to be much greater in urban China than in rural areas, and also greater than observed in Korea and Indonesia. Descriptive evidence is presented suggesting that pension eligible workers are far more likely to cease productive activity at a relatively young age. A strong relationship between health status and labor supply in rural areas is observed, indicating the potential role that improvements in access to health care may play in extending working lives and also providing some basis for a common perception that older rural residents tend to work as long as they are physically capable. The paper concludes with a discussion of measures that may facilitate longer working lives as China's population ages.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO HEALTH CAREACCOUNTINGAGE DISTRIBUTIONAGE POPULATIONSAGE SUPPORTAGING POPULATIONAGING POPULATIONSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONBLUE COLLAR OCCUPATIONSBULLETINCONTINUED EMPLOYMENTDEMOGRAPHERSDEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITIONDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDISABILITYDISLOCATED WORKERSDISPLACED WORKERSEARLY RETIREMENTECONOMIC ANALYSISECONOMIC RESOURCESECONOMIC STATUSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTELDERLYELDERLY POPULATIONEMPLOYABILITYEMPLOYEEEMPLOYMENTEMPLOYMENT OF WOMENEMPLOYMENT OUTCOMESEMPLOYMENT PATTERNSEMPLOYMENT RATEEMPLOYMENT RATESEMPLOYMENT STATUSEXTENDED FAMILYFAMILY MEMBERSFAMILY SUPPORTFEMALE EMPLOYMENTFEMINISTGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER DISCRIMINATIONGENDER DISPARITYHEALTH INSURANCEHEALTH PROBLEMSHIGH SCHOOL EDUCATIONHOURS OF WORKHOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICSHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHOUSEHOLD WEALTHHUMAN DEVELOPMENTHUMAN RESOURCESHUSBANDSINCOMEINFORMAL SECTORINFORMAL SECTOR WORKERSINTERGENERATIONAL TRANSFERSINTERNATIONAL POPULATIONJOB HISTORYJOB LOSSJOB PLACEMENTJOB SEARCHJOBSLABOR ALLOCATIONLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR INCOMELABOR MARKETLABOR MARKET OUTCOMESLABOR MARKETSLABOR REGULATIONLABOR RELATIONSLABOR RESEARCHLABOR SUPPLYLARGE CITIESLAYOFFLEGAL SUPPORTLEVELS OF EDUCATIONLIFETIME EARNINGSLOW UNEMPLOYMENTLOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATESMALE COUNTERPARTSMANDATORY RETIREMENTMARITAL STATUSMARRIED COUPLESMARRIED WOMENMIGRANTMIGRANTSMIGRATIONNATIONAL PENSIONNORMAL RETIREMENT AGENUTRITIONOLD AGEOLD AGE LABOR SUPPLYOLD-AGEOLDER ADULTSOLDER HUSBANDSOLDER MENOLDER WOMENOLDER WORKERSPENSIONPENSION BENEFITSPENSION COVERAGEPENSION INCOMEPENSION INCOMESPENSION PLANPENSION PROGRAMPENSION PROGRAMSPENSION SCHEMEPENSION SYSTEMPENSION SYSTEMSPENSION WEALTHPENSIONSPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOOR HEALTHPOPULATION AND DEVELOPMENTPOPULATION CENSUSPRESENT EVIDENCEPRIVATE EMPLOYERSPRIVATE SECTORPRIVATE SECTOR JOBSPRIVATE TRANSFERPRODUCTIVE ACTIVITYPRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENTPRODUCTIVE WORKPRODUCTIVITYPROGRESSPROVISION OF CAREPUBLIC PENSIONPUBLIC SERVICESREEMPLOYMENT CENTERSRESEARCH COMMUNITYRETIREESRETIREMENTRETIREMENT AGERETIREMENT AGESRETIREMENT BEHAVIORRETIREMENT DECISIONRETIREMENT DECISIONSRETIREMENT INCENTIVESRETIREMENT PLANNINGRETIREMENT SURVEYRETIREMENT SYSTEMSRURAL AREASRURAL COUNTIESRURAL POPULATIONRURAL RESIDENTSRURAL WOMANRURAL WOMENSELF-EMPLOYMENTSELFEMPLOYMENTSERVANTSSKILLED LABORSKILLED WORKERSSMALL ENTERPRISESSOCIAL INSURANCESOCIAL INSURANCE BENEFITSSOCIAL PROTECTIONSOCIAL SCIENCESSOCIAL SECURITYSOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITSOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITSSOCIAL SECURITY REFORMSOCIAL SECURITY REFORMSSOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMSOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMSSPOUSESPOUSESURBAN AREASURBAN EMPLOYMENTURBAN MIGRATIONURBAN POPULATIONSURBAN WOMENURBAN WORKERSURBANIZATIONWAGE EMPLOYMENTWAGE INCREASESWAGESWORK ACTIVITIESWORK ACTIVITYWORK HOURSWORK IN PROGRESSWORKERWORKFORCEWORKINGWORKING HOURSWORKING LIFEWORKPLACEYOUNG AGEYOUNG AGESYOUNG WORKERSYOUNGER WORKERSYOUTH EMPLOYMENTWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-5853