An estimated 40% of Russians may never live to retire, after Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that the age to receive a Russian state pension would be raised from 60 to 65 for men by 2028, and from age 55 to 63 by 2034 for women. The draft legislation was discussed in the Russian cabinet on Thursday. There is one problem: a substantial portion of the Russian population will never live that long.
Angry Russians are accusing the Kremlin of announcing the changes while the country is distracted hosting the World Cup.
Expected to be officially adopted by next year, the new policy would mean the country’s retirement age for men would be only a year lower than the World Health Organisation’s estimated life expectancy for a Russian man of 66.
It estimated around 40 per cent of men and 20 per cent of women may not live long enough to claim their pensions under the new rules. –Independent.co.uk
The Russian Confederation of Labour (KTR) says that the average life expectancy for men is actually less than 65-years-old in over 60 regions in Russia.
“KTR does not support such decisions and declares its intention to launch a broad public campaign against their implementation,” the organization said in a statement.
According to the Federal State Statistics Service, in 62 regions of the Russian Federation, the average life expectancy of men is less than 65 years, and in three subjects – less than 60 years.
In other words, if demographic trends continue in Russia as a whole, up to 65 years 40% of men and 20% of women will not live to see their retirement. The implementation of the proposal to raise the retirement age will mean that a significant portion of Russian citizens will not survive to retirement.
The Kremlin, however, disagrees – with Russia’s Federal Statistics Service projecting men’s life expectancy to reach 74-years-old by 2037, according to Bloomberg.
The unpopular announcement comes as Russia is gripped watching their national team’s 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the opening game of the World Cup.
“Under the noise of the opening of the 2018 World Cup Medvedev announced at a government meeting: the retirement age in Russia should be raised to 65 years for men and up to 63 years for women,” wrote Twitter user Yoshkin Mole.
How about some exoskeletons?
Facing a similar situation with an aging workforce, Japan has taken to outfitting senior citizens with exoskeletons so they don’t throw out their brittle backs lifting boxes and whatnot.
In some cases, the solution lies in technologies that help offset senior workers’ deficiencies, like the exoskeletons used by Obayashi at its construction site. The Fujisawa Aikoen nursing home about an hour outside Tokyo started leasing the “hybrid assistive limb,” or HAL, exoskeletons from maker Cyberdyne Inc. in June.
At an office-building construction site in the center of Japan’s capital, 67-year-old Kenichi Saito effortlessly stacks 44-pound boards with the ease of a man half his age.
His secret: a bendable exoskeleton hugging his waist and thighs, with sensors attached to his skin. The sensors detect when Mr. Saito’s muscles start to move and direct the machine to support his motion, cutting his load’s effective weight by 18 pounds. –WSJ (2015)
“In Hokkaido, 60-year-old potato-pickers use rubber “smart suits” making it easier to bend over. Baggage handlers at Tokyo’s Haneda airport employ similar assistance,” reports the Journal.
No word on whether they come with Adidas stripes for the Russian market.
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