Singaporeans willing to work till 70
SINGAPORE: Singaporeans on the verge of retiring are prepared to keep working for longer than those that came before them.
Men aged 55 to 59 had far greater expectations to work fulltime past 65 and 70 than employees currently are, while women had higher such projections beyond 62, 65, and 70, according to the latest survey by the Singapore Management University’s Centre for Research on the Economics of Ageing, which works with the United States-based RAND Corp.
The findings could ease pressure on policymakers to financially support a rapidly-ageing population that’s living longer. Other countries have grappled with political pressures to keep retirement ages unchanged, leaving a steady flow of people taking up benefits as they kick in.
Singapore’s retirement age, however, has rapidly increased to 67 years and made residents more adaptive to working longer.
Survey respondents were more likely to report that they expected to work past age 65 if they were male, low-educated, low-wealth, single, or healthy, the figures showed. For female Singaporeans, one in five sees herself in a fulltime role past age 70 — more than twice the seven per cent rate now.
The survey, which has an active sample of 12,000 Singaporeans and averages about 8,000 responses each month, polls persons between the ages of 50 and 70 on issues including income, health, employment, housing and general well-being. Bloomberg