The Impact of the Delayed Retirement Pilot Policy in Jiangsu on the Employment Rate of the Middle-aged and Youth Population

Wuhao Wang; Aimee S. Zhang; Mohan Wang; Chenxi Cui

doi:10.54254/2754-1169/2025.LD28409

Advances in Economics, Management and Political SciencesOpen access

The Impact of the Delayed Retirement Pilot Policy in Jiangsu on the Employment Rate of the Middle-aged and Youth Population

Research Article

Open Access

The Impact of the Delayed Retirement Pilot Policy in Jiangsu on the Employment Rate of the Middle-aged and Youth Population

Wuhao Wang ^1* Aimee S. Zhang ², Mohan Wang ³, Chenxi Cui ⁴

¹ Australian National University

² University of British Columbia

³ University of California

⁴ Shandong University of Finance and Economics

^*Corresponding author: u7597913@anu.edu.au

Published on 22 October 2025

AEMPS Vol.230

ISSN (Print): 2754-1177

ISSN (Online): 2754-1169

ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-453-3

ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-454-0

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Abstract

China’s rapidly aging population has placed an unprecedent strain on the labor market and pension system. This paper empirically investigates the causal effects of a delayed retirement policy implemented in early 2022 on the labor market for youth and middle-age worker. Using county-level panel data of Jiangsu province in China from 2018 to 2024 for Jiangsu province, the treatment group, and Zhejiang province, the control group, we discover obvious policy trade-offs. We find that within three years of implementation, middle-aged employment rate in Jiangsu province increased, while youth employment rate decreased. The positive effects on the middle-age were stronger in cities with higher aging rates and heavy industry experience. Whereas for youth, unemployment effects were concentrated in sectors of low-turnover. In addition to this result, were discovered that firm’s retention of middle-aged workers was reinforced rather than being reduced, causing a set of trade-offs. These results provide policy implications to contribute to the stability and development of the entire labour market.

Keywords:

Delayed retirement, Labour market outcomes, Intergenerational employment tension, Difference-in-differences, Jiangsu pilot policy

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References

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Cite this article

Wang,W.;Zhang,A.S.;Wang,M.;Cui,C. (2025). The Impact of the Delayed Retirement Pilot Policy in Jiangsu on the Employment Rate of the Middle-aged and Youth Population. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,230,56-66.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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Volume title: Proceedings of ICFTBA 2025 Symposium: Strategic Human Capital Management in the Era of AI

ISBN: 978-1-80590-453-3(Print) / 978-1-80590-454-0(Online)

Editor: Lukáš Vartiak, An Nguyen

Conference website: https://www.icftba.org/London.html

Conference date: 4 November 2025

Series: Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences

Volume number: Vol.230

ISSN: 2754-1169(Print) / 2754-1177(Online)

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