Workers wary about possible pension crunch

If soaring living costs, low returns on savings investment and longer life spans are forcing more Westerners to work longer, why should many lowly paid Chinese wage earners facing the same problems prefer to retire early?

Amid the current heated debate on the government's intention to raise retirement age, officials have indicated that the average Chinese worker retires at about the age of 53, with great numbers of workers ready to take the plunge earlier rather than later. While the government rules on early retirement are strict, 55 for men and 45 for women engaged in dangerous or harmful lines of work, fraud is reportedly rampant as people who don't qualify find creative ways to beat the system.

You may blame it on a problematic pension policy that pits private workers who fork out for retirees in exchange for promises of pensions many years later, against government and public employees who don't need to pay a cent, but who will receive several times more in government payouts when they leave.