Published in the Nikkei Asian Review 21/9/2016
This year Japan’s Respect for the Aged public holiday fell on September 19th. Taiwan’s Senior Citizen’s Day, also known as the Double 9 Festival, falls on October 9th. The older you get, the more sense such occasions make. After all, the aged are merely our future selves. People who have succeeded in ageing gracefully – or, better still, disgracefully – are worth celebrating.
It was inspiring to read in the Nikkei Asian Review about Fukutaro Fukui, the world’s oldest salaryman, who continued to commute to work until retiring at the age of 101. It was also good to learn that, in a year when several rock stars have gone to the great gig in the sky, Mick Jagger is to become a father for the eighth time, at the age of 73.
Staying active, carrying on doing what you do best – these are crucial to well-being not just personally, but on a macro-economic level too. Integrating older people into the workforce is one of the key challenges of the twenty first century. Societies with a culture of respect for the aged are likely to handle it better – with benefits for everyone, young and old.
In Western countries where pay-grade defines status there is a psychological barrier to “down-shifting” work-wise. In Asian countries influenced by Confucianism, elderly people are automatically worthy of deference. In the Tokyo branch of the investment bank where I once worked, the elderly lady who cleaned the kitchen was addressed in keigo (respect-language) by the much younger and better paid Japanese staff. In the London office such menial work was done by members of ethnic minorities who were invisible to the high-fliers.
Japan is the world’s most “advanced” country in terms of ageing, with 27% of the population now above 65 years old, but many other countries are following in its footsteps. According to the United States Census Bureau, by 2050 Europe as a whole will be older than Japan is now, as will Asian countries such as Thailand, South Korea, Singapore and Sri Lanka. The grey superpower will be China, with a staggering 350 million people over 65.
How countries cope with this rapid transformation is as much a political question as an economic one. In many Western countries the response so far has been mass immigration, which pumps up economic growth and corporate revenues, but not necessarily living standards.
Ultimately it is no solution. The immigrants themselves will age and ever-increasing numbers of newcomers will be required to hold back the demographic tide. Meanwhile, as Professor Paul Collier of Oxford University notes in his book “Exodus,” social cohesion and co-operative behaviour are likely to be weakened. The political consequences are already visible in the rise of populism in Europe and America.
Wealthy Asian countries take a more sensible approach, recognizing that greater longevity, far from being a curse, means more years of health and productive activity. The percentage of males over 65 who work is 42% in South Korea, 32% in Singapore and 29% in Japan. For France the number is 3%, for Belgium 4% and Italy 6%. Similar differentials exist in the numbers for women. In Asia, sixty years old is the new forty. In Europe it’s the time to be winding down for a multi-decade vacation at tax-payers’ expense.
According to Japan’s Labor Ministry, 82% of Japanese companies have systems in place for re-employing staff who have passed the retirement age. There is also a semi-governmental network of 3,000 “Silver Recruitment Centers,” where companies and individuals can hire older people for specific tasks. The 700,000 workers on their books are in high demand, as I discovered when I had to wait two months for a tree surgery job that required specialized skills and equipment.
The team that appeared in their hard hats at 8 a.m. sharp consisted of three men and two women – all, I would guess, in their early seventies. They worked cheerfully in the sweltering heat, shinning up 15 foot ladders and deploying a mini-armoury of machetes, chains and electric saws. Their handiwork was impeccable and their fee – which was by no means cheap – amply deserved.
Ageing is as inevitable for countries as it is for individuals. Far from being a demographic disaster, as doomsters love to assert, it presents an opportunity to rethink our personal and societal goals. According to the 91 year old Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, ex-prime minister of Malaysia, the secret of longevity is to keep working and control your appetite; when something tastes delicious, stop eating. On September 19th I reflected on these wise words while listening to the Rolling Stones.