Policies needed to protect working "young-olds"
文章日期:2018年6月1日

雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)]

[普通話 (足本收聽)]

THE GOVERNMENT has suggested encouraging "young-olds" aged between 65 and 74 to return to the job market, with Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung saying the government will take the initiative to implement policies to this end. He mentioned that Hong Kong's workforce participation rate among elderly people has increased significantly in the past decade, and the rise was particularly prominent in the 65-74 age group. However, the participation rate was still much lower than that in other Asian countries, such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Amid the challenges of population ageing, encouraging prolonged employment or re-employment of the elderly is certainly an important direction in unleashing the potential of the local working population and promoting "active ageing". But encouraging elderly employment cannot be achieved by merely shouting slogans. The government must formulate appropriate policies that can protect the rights of the "young-old" workforce and avoid the exploitation of elderly employees who lack bargaining power by unscrupulous employers.

[ENG audio 1]

According to the government's by-census results in 2016, there were about 1.16 million senior citizens aged 65 or above in Hong Kong, marking an increase of more than 0.31 million from 2006. The proportion of senior citizens in the population rose from 12.4% in 2006 to 15.9% in 2016. The Census and Statistics Department estimated that by 2036 one in every three Hong Kong people would be an elderly person. Last year Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong also predicted that Hong Kong would face a "silver tsunami" in the coming decade. The ageing of our population is both a challenge and an opportunity.

[ENG audio 2]

The education level of the new generation of old adults is notably higher than that in the past. In 2006, only one in four elderly people had received secondary school education or above. But the ratio had increased to nearly 40% by 2016. If a certain degree of flexibility can be allowed in the workplace arrangement for employees who have reached the conventional retirement age, such aged workers in good health condition and of higher education level will then be able to continue to contribute to society. However, the government must pay attention to several matters in dealing with the issue of prolonged work life.

[ENG audio 3]

First of all, the authorities must safeguard the "young-olds" against wilful exploitation by unscrupulous employers as "second-class workforce". At present, there are 478,000 poor elderly people in Hong Kong. The figure still stands at 340,000 after policy interventions of recurrent cash benefits and the elderly poverty rate is as high as 31.6%. The government must formulate appropriate policies to protect their labour rights, in particular the rights of low-skilled aged workers who have relatively low bargaining power. If not, they will be turned into easy targets of exploitation who cannot but be trampled upon and "bottle up their feelings" for the sake of scraping a meagre living. In the face of population ageing, it is an urgent task to deal with the problem of age discrimination in employment. However, at this moment there are still no regulations against age discrimination in the workplace. Hong Kong government must initiate discussions as early as possible to enact legislation prohibiting age discrimination, so as to remove obstacles in the way of elderly employment.

[ENG audio 4]

Furthermore, given the lack of universal retirement protection in Hong Kong, many grassroots elderly people have to work in their later years to make ends meet. This has shown that whether the elderly people continue to work or not is somehow related to retirement protection. For example, now the Mandatory Provident Fund scheme has made it compulsory for employers and employees to make contributions up to the age of 65. After that, they can decide separately whether to continue their respective contributions or not. If it is stipulated that the employer is also obliged to continue the contribution after an employee aged 65 or above has decided to keep on contributing, those elderly workers can at least enjoy an additional safeguard.

[ENG audio 5]

The government has a kind intention behind its determination to encourage elderly employment as a way of finding "new force" to the working population. Nevertheless, it must formulate appropriate supporting policies as early as possible. It must come up with an "elderly friendly" employment policy so that older adults who still have the intention and the energy to contribute to society can fulfil their aspiration.

[ENG audio 6]

「少老」就業成趨勢 須有政策保障權益

政府鼓勵65至74歲的「少老」(young old)重投就業市場,政務司長張建宗表示政府會在政策上積極配合,他提到本港年長者勞動人口參與率過去10年顯著上升,65至74歲增幅更明顯,惟仍遠低於日本、新加坡、韓國等亞洲國家。香港人口老化,鼓勵健康長者繼續工作或重投職場,無疑是釋放本地勞動人口潛力、推動「積極老年」的重要方向,不過,鼓勵長者就業不能靠光叫口號,政府必須制訂適切政策,保障「少老」的就業權益,以免缺乏議價能力的年長僱員淪為無良僱主剝削對象。

[PTH audio 1]

根據2016年中期人口統計結果,本港共有116萬名65歲及以上長者,較2006年增加逾31萬人;長者佔整體人口比例,由2006年的12.4%,上升至2016年15.9%,統計處預期2036年每3人就有1人是長者,去年勞福局長羅致光預示10年後本港將迎來「高齡海嘯」。人口老化既是挑戰,也是機遇。

[PTH audio 2]

新一代長者教育程度顯著提高,2006年只有約四分之一長者擁有中學或以上教育程度,有關比例2016年增至近四成。如果在職人士踏入傳統退休年齡後,工作上能享有一定彈性,這類健康和教育程度較高的長者將可繼續貢獻社會。但政府處理長者繼續工作,有幾點值得注意。

[PTH audio 3]

首先,當局必須防止部分「少老」被無良僱主視為「二等勞動力」,恣意剝削。目前本港有47.8萬名貧窮長者,恒常現金政策介入後仍有近34萬人,貧窮率達31.6%,政府必須制訂適當政策保障他們的勞動權益,尤其是從事低技術工作、議價能力較低的年長僱員,以免他們為求餬口,淪為剝削對象,在沒有選擇情况下被迫「揸頸就命」,任人宰割。本港人口老化,處理職場年齡歧視的問題刻不容緩,但本港至今對職場年齡歧視並無規管,港府應盡快展開討論立法禁止年齡歧視,移除長者就業的障礙。

[PTH audio 4]

另外,本港並無退休保障計劃,不少基層長者為了維持生計,晚年仍需工作,反映長者是否繼續工作,與退休保障有一定關係。例如目前強積金制度,強制僱主、僱員供款至65歲,65歲後由僱主、僱員各自選擇是否供款,如果規定65歲以上僱員選擇繼續供款,僱主便必須繼續為僱員供款,年長僱員可獲多一層保障。

[PTH audio 5]

特區政府銳意鼓勵長者就業,為勞動人口提供「生力軍」,立意甚善,惟須盡快制訂適當的支援政策配合,推出「長者友善」就業政策,讓有心有力的長者,能以一己之力貢獻社會。

[PTH audio 6]

明報社評2018.05.02

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Ms CHIU, Toby Yim-tung

Lecturer

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/CHIU,_Toby_Yim-tung-91.html

蔡維玉

講師

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/CHOI,_Wai-yuk-322.html

【Bilingual Editorial】