In the past few decades, the invisible barrier that prevents women from ascending to senior positions in politics, business firms and other organizations has been cracked, if not shattered, in a growing number of countries.
However, another barrier — a “second glass ceiling” — to women’s advancement remains. As a result, women across sectors and countries are increasingly leaving the workforce prematurely — and not by choice.
The problem is particularly pronounced in China, where the statutory retirement age is 50 or 55 for women (depending on their occupation) and 60 for men. For years, this gender-based retirement system, originally intended to “protect” female workers from long-term heavy labor, remained unchanged, despite rising life expectancies, and gains in women’s educational and employment outcomes.
The Chinese government recently announced that, starting next year, it will gradually raise the mandatory retirement age to 63 for men and 55 or 58 for women. Such a change is long overdue, given the country’s rapidly aging population and looming pension crisis.
Unfortunately, the gender gap in retirement age persists.
Women’s early exit from the workforce has far-reaching social and economic implications. For starters, there is the loss of human capital, particularly among highly educated people. Because women in China retire earlier than men on average, despite achieving similar levels of tertiary education, the economy is underutilizing their skills.
Moreover, the second glass ceiling exacerbates the first one: Women have fewer opportunities for promotion to leadership positions, resulting in fewer role models and mentors for younger workers. For example, if a Chinese company is deciding who among its employees to promote to a leadership role, there is little incentive to select a woman in her 40s over a man of the same age, because she will retire earlier. The lack of senior women in business and government also means that decisionmaking processes at the organizational and national levels are dominated by men, to the detriment of society.
China, like many countries, is also facing a demographic crisis, which has spurred efforts to increase the birthrate.
However, motherhood often results in women — who already face shorter career spans — spending more time out of the workforce and earning less income over their lifetime. This discourages women from having children, leading to a self-defeating cycle.
Lastly, shorter career spans can reduce women’s pension benefits by preventing them from extending their working years to compensate for career interruptions from childbirth and caregiving responsibilities. Given that women live longer than men on average, this can jeopardize their long-term financial security.
Companies can and should take concrete steps to retain female workers. That could mean establishing mentorship programs that offer role models and networking opportunities for women and counteract the “old boys’ club” culture that perpetuates gender promotion and pay gaps.
Parental leave policies for men and women can help address the imbalance in caregiving responsibilities. Equally important is tackling age discrimination in hiring and retention, and offering support to women experiencing menopause and other health issues that often lead them to give up working.
The public sector must implement similar measures. For example, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and its National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences have increased the age limit for women applying to youth grant programs to 40 from 35. This will provide more equal opportunities for female researchers and academics with children.
However, in China, the most consequential change that the government could make would be to end its gender-specific mandatory retirement policy. No longer forcing women to leave the workforce before men would be a step toward equality and could even increase demand for childcare and eldercare.
While helping women reach leadership roles remains crucial to advancing gender equality, political and business leaders must also focus on creating the conditions that allow female workers to remain productive in their fields for as long as they want. Many countries, including the US, Canada and Japan, have moved away from mandatory retirement ages, and those that still use them tend not to have different cutoffs for men and women (Russia is one of the few exceptions).
A flexible retirement system would put a large crack in China’s second glass ceiling by allowing women to realize their full professional potential.
Wang Xianghong (王湘紅) is a professor in the School of Economics at Renmin University of China.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
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