Last January, The Art 2 Aging wrote a newsletter titled, “Two Superpowers. One Super Aging Problem” in which we explained how China and the United States share a common trait: an aging population combined with a declining birth rate.
China’s attempted solution to their declining birth rate was to encourage young married couples to have children and to have more than one child. The government is offering incentives and a number of employers are following suit.
Critics doubt China’s methods to goose the birth rate through incentives will work. Many of its citizens think the same way.
There could be one major reason why and that reason might also hold the solution to the country’s problem.
When one thinks of a communist society, one assumes a Marxist state, namely, it’s all about the people. The mass of people come first and individuals come second.
Of course, human nature being what it is, individuals in a communist society often come out on top as they do in a capitalist society. And those on top are usually the wealthy.
But that aside, one also assumes that a communist society looks after its people. It offers free education, subsidized housing, and free medical treatment.
In China, university education is not free, per se, but the cost per academic year is roughly a tenth of what it is in the United States.
As for subsidized housing, China has that, too.
Finally, one would assume that healthcare was free, as well. Not so. A Chinese citizen pays for each visit to a family doctor (fairly minimal) and pays a substantial amount (by Chinese standards) for visits to a hospital.
This can come as a surprise to many Westerners, especially those who live in Canada, Great Britain, the European Union and many other countries in the world where universal healthcare has been the norm for decades.
Ready for another big surprise?
China has built-in ageism throughout its workforce. And it’s pretty brutal.
While older adults face workplace ageism in the West, in China, if you’re over 35, you may very well be out of work entirely!
According to the New York Times article linked above, the belief in China is that when you reach 35, employers don’t trust you any longer and opt to hire new graduates who are willing to work long hours for less pay.
China is a nation filled with exceptional individuals; the nation is a global leader in a number of areas such as AI, electric vehicles, battery production, green technology (even though the country burns tonnes of coal each year) and, more darkly, facial recognition technology.
Yet, the nation spurns many of its brightest once they hit 35.
Here is a paragraph taken from the Sichuan government’s civil service hiring site indicating one of the criteria for hiring:
3. The age requirement is generally between 18 and 35 (born between January 4, 1987, and January 4, 2005). For 2023 graduates of master's and doctoral programs (non-employed personnel), the age requirement is relaxed to under 40 (born after January 4, 1982).
In the West, there are many individuals and organizations dedicated to fighting ageism in the workplace. Studies indicate that older workers are responsible, show up on time, produce well, have tech-savvy skills as good as those much younger, and blend well with their younger colleagues.
We take it for granted that ageism is wrong-minded and must be reversed, especially in an aging population where younger workers are rapidly becoming the minority.
In fact, in the United States, ageism is illegal under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
So, here at home, those battling the out-dated views on age have the law on their side; in China, a 38 year old can be out of work because of his or her date of birth and does not have any recourse through law.
Imagine how short-sighted this kind of thinking is. China’s unemployment is high, perhaps in large part because of the country’s absurd, legally enshrined views on age.
In fact, in just 15 years, more than a third of the country will be age 60 or older.
The nation has a very poor social safely net – another surprising aspect of this Communist society; pensions are pathetic and with the prospects of being employed dimming with every year past 35 combined with expanding lifespans, it’s a recipe for major social problems.
So, while it is right to fight employer ageism in the West and while it is correct that ageism demeans the older individual, we can clearly see that one nation – China – will struggle to move forward to the future, one hand tied behind its back and an anchor draped around its neck.