Health Capacity to Work among Older Persons in Asia: Key Findings from a Regional Comparative Study

In responding to the challenge of rapid population aging in Asia, promoting healthy and active aging has become a key policy priority in many countries. There is an opportunity to realize a "silver demographic dividend" by harnessing the potential of healthy and productive older people. This paper presents the findings of a regional comparative study that quantifies the health capacity to work of older persons in seven East Asian and Southeast Asian countries. Along with improvements in the health status of older Asians over time, the additional (or untapped) working capacity of older men aged 55-64 years is estimated to have increased by 0.74 years on average over the past 15 years, with substantial variation across countries, gender, and other individual characteristics. For example, additional work capacity increased by 0.24 years in Japan and Viet Nam during the review period and by 2.24 years in the People's Republic of China. In contrast, additional work capacity declined by 0.17 years in Indonesia. The proportion of all men aged 60-64 who are not working but are able to do so ranges from 7.8% (Viet Nam) to 21.1% in Figure 8 (Malaysia), with the proportion even higher for men in their late 60s. Older adults with higher levels of education and those living in urban areas generally have greater untapped work capacity. The potential silver demographic dividend, measured by the aggregate untapped work capacity of older workers above retirement age, is significant and has the potential to boost the gross domestic product of many countries in the region.