Fewer babies = later retirement?

In Japan with less young people to support the old & a society built around work retirement age increase welcomed but in Europe met with protests.

Kobuna will be at work for around 15 hours, in a job he has done for 55 years (AFP, Yoshikazu Tsuno)

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Japan's seniors work on into retirement

By Patrice Novotny (AFP) – Nov 15, 2012

TOKYO — Six days a week, winter or summer, 73-year-old Mitsumi Kobuna gets up at 5am to go to Tsukiji fish market to stock up his family-run stall.

He will be at work for around 15 hours, in a job he has done for 55 years. He has noticed his body slowing in the last decade or so, but would really like to carry on for two or three more years.

While governments in Europe have struggled to convince their populations to delay retirement, Japan has found no such resistance, and people like Kobuna are not unusual.

Men in Japan work until they are 69 on average, five years longer than the developed countries club of the OECD and a full decade longer than their counterparts in France.

Japanese women retire at a mean age of 67 against an OECD average of 63.

Observers say people prepared to work longer and later in life are increasingly necessary in Japan, where a shrinking number of taxpayers find themselves supporting a population of elderly that is both growing and living longer.

Already around a quarter of Japan's people are over 65, a figure the government estimates will rise to 40 percent within half a century.

Without the immigrant workforce that many developed countries have, getting people to stay at work is seen by many as one of Japan's only options if it is to pay for its own population.

But for many of those in the autumn of their lives, their jobs are not merely a chore to be endured, but rather a source of pride, and something that gives them energy.

"If I stopped work, I would feel old," said Koji Sato, who runs a tea shop in Tokyo.

At 75-years-old, Sato says he works 12 hours a day and frequently seven days a week.

I've been doing this for 50 years," he said. "I'm slowing down gradually, but the day I stop, that will be the end of me." 

This attitude is common in many Japanese who grew up in the austerity of the post-war years, when a devastated shell of a country was transformed by the sheer effort of its people into a booming, world-beating economy in less than two decades.

For Kenji Wada, a 73-year-old lawyer who specialises in industrial patents, his job is about so much more than the pay he brings home.

"Money is secondary," he said. "The key is to be doing something useful in society." 

He said that in the 40 years he has been running his practice he has worked for many different companies.

They entrust me to handle things, no matter how old I am.

Shigeru Oki, director of the Business Policy forum, a government-backed think-tank, said working longer was a way to feel useful.

Some seniors cite economic reasons but it's not the only reason. According to our surveys, they often said they wanted to have something to live for, remain connected to society and maintain health.

In August and without much fanfare, the government passed a law that comes into effect in stages requiring companies to let their employees continue working until they are 65. They also raised the age at which pension payments begin, to 65, by 2025

People are allowed to continue working beyond that age, provided their employer is willing to employ them

"Seniors know that the pension system has become a burden on younger generations due to the decline in childbirths," said Oki

They feel they can accept delays in pension payments up to the age of 65 or so in the face of the country's bad financial situation. Besides, people in their 60s are (today) much more vibrant than those in the past

Months of protests greeted then-president Nicolas Sarkozy when he raised France's age of retirement progressively to 62 from 60 in 2010

Moves in Greece to hike to 67 the age at which people can retire have been part of a wildly unpopular austerity package that has seem sometimes-violent street protests and a series of strikes.

The outcry in Europe stands in marked contrast to Japan, where there was barely a murmur. Work is just something one does, and does not complain about it.

"I've never really considered if my work is fun or not," said Seichiro Fukui, who for 41 of his 64 years has worked as an insurance broker, an estate agent and a vendor of rice cakes

My father toiled until he was 80 years old and I intend to work until I drop. My life is built like that and it's not going to change now.

And here, for many ageing Japanese, is the nub of the problem: in a society built so firmly around work, where is meaning to be found in retirement.

For Fukui, the answer is to carry on.

I don't know what I would do with myself if I retired

Copyright © 2012 AFP. All rights reserved

(Source: Bangkok Post, Japan's seniors work on into retirement, By Patrice Novotny (AFP), Nov 15, 2012) 


Retirement Vocabulary

senior citizen - an older person (See Wikipedia)
senior - Same as "senior citizen"

retirement (noun) - the period of time later in life when you stop working and relax เกษียรอายุ (See Wikipedia)
Japan's seniors work on into retirement

retire (verb) - stop working later in life to relax
Japanese women retire at a mean age of 67 against an OECD average of 63

pension - a regular payment by a company or the government to people after their retirement เงินบำเหน็ด บำนาญ (See Wikipedia)

stall - a large table or a small building that is open at the front, used for selling things (or for giving people information) รถ หรือแผงขายของ
fish stall  

stock up - to add to inventory (get more things or goods, so you do not run out)
stock up his family-run stall

decade - a period of ten years ทศวรรษ, ระยะเวลา 10 ปี
he has noticed his body slowing in the last decade or so

carry on - continue doing something (what he or she is doing)
he would really like to carry on for two or three more years.

delay - to make something happen at a later time than originally planned or expected เลื่อน
delay retirement

struggle - try hard at a difficult job or task
convince - saying things to make a person believe something

governments in Europe have struggled to convince their populations to delay retirement

resistance - a refusal to accept something or allow it to happen การต่อต้าน, การขัดขืน
Japan has found no resistance

counterparts - people or organisations with a similar function or position or function in different countries or organisations
Men in Japan work until they are 69 a full decade longer than their counterparts in France

taxpayers - people who pay taxes (who don't want to see their hard-earned money wasted) ผู้เสียภาษี

shrinking - getting smaller
shrinking number - decreasing

taxpayers - people who pay the taxes that government needs to operate
shrinking number of taxpayers

population - all the people who live in a contry, region, city or area, etc ประชากร
elderly - older people, same as "senior citizens", over 65 สูงวัย, อาวุโส, อายุมาก
population of elderly

a population of elderly that is both growing and living longer

in Japan a shrinking number of taxpayers find themselves supporting a population of elderly that is both growing and living longer

quarter - 25%
figure - an amount จำนวน

estimates - guesses of what the size, value, amount, cost, etc. of something might be การประมาณค่า
century - a period of one hundred years ศตวรรษ

already around a quarter of Japan's people are over 65, a figure the government estimates will rise to 40 percent within half a century

immigrant - a person who has come to a different country in order to live there permanently ผู้อพยพ, คนย้ายถิ่น
workforce - all the workers in an economy or a company   แรงงาน
immigrant workforce

options - choices; the different things that someone can choose to do ทางเลือก
one of Japan's only options

chore - work or a task (especially an unpleasant or difficult one)
endure - be able to do and put up with something difficult to do; bear, tolerate อดทน
a chore to be endured

in the autumn of their lives - in their old age

source - the place or person something comes from or starts at, or the cause of something ต้นกำเนิด, แหล่งกำเนิด
pride - a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that you get when you, or someone connected with you, have achieved something special ความภาคภูมิใจ
source of pride

their jobs are not merely a chore to be endured, but rather a source of pride, and something that gives them energy

attitude - the way you think and feel about something, as shown in behaviour
common - the usual thing; seen or happening often
this attitude is common in many Japanese

austerity - reduced living standards, consuming less; when the condition of the economy is bad and the standard of living falls
grew up in the austerity of the post-war years

devastated - badly damaged or destroyed ถูกทำลายล้าง
a devastated shell of a country

effort - the energy and enthusiasm that people put into an activity; an attempt to do something ความพยายาม
sheer effort - a great effort (only effort)

transformed - changed
transformed by the sheer effort

decades - periods of ten years เป็นสิบๆปี

This attitude is common in many Japanese who grew up in the austerity of the post-war years, when a devastated shell of a country was transformed by the sheer effort of its people into a booming, world-beating economy in less than two decades.

specialises in industrial patents
For Kenji Wada, a 73-year-old lawyer who specialises in industrial patents, his job is about so much more than the pay he brings home.

key - an important thing คนสำคัญ
The key is to be doing something useful in society.

practice - something that people do regularly; a way of doing something การปฏิบัติ
He said that in the 40 years he has been running his practice he has worked for many different companies.