OREANDA-NEWS In Japan, the retirement age can be raised from the current 65 to 70 years due to the "aging of the population", the draft government Commission said. Agency Kyodo reports about it the.

The draft refers to the provision of "employment opportunities up to the age of 70" for persons who have reached or will soon be 65 years of age. According to the Agency, the project refers to the gradual transition to a new retirement age.

The project will be considered on November 26. After that, the economic and tax Advisory Council should approve an action plan on pension reform for the summer of 2019. The so-called social security reform itself, according to the plans of the Shinzo Abe government, should be implemented within three years.

The readiness of the Abe government to raise the retirement age from 65 to 70 years became known in September 2018, and the discussion about the need for changes is underway since 2016. According to the government, when transferring the retirement age, pensioners will receive more payments than now. The reform is justified by the ageing of the population and the country's need for labour. By attracting current pensioners to the economy, the Abe government expects explosive economic growth.

As previously reported, the average life expectancy in Japan is 80.89 years for men and 87.14 years for women. Every fourth resident of the country is more than 65 years old, according to the Japanese government.

Most people over 65 years of age live in Akita Prefecture, where their share is 33.5% of the total population. The lowest number is in Okinawa, but all 47 prefectures in Japan still have more elderly people than young people under the age of 14.

The draft law on increasing the retirement age is expected to be prepared in 2020, it will take into account various working conditions, such as shortened working days, remote work from home, providing subsidies to companies for hiring older employees.