尽管他是一名经验丰富的游泳者，体检也显示他没有导致运动存在风险的身体状况，但66岁的赵欣表示，当地一家泳池的工作人员仅因年龄问题，便阻止他与孙子一起游泳。
Even though he was an experienced swimmer and a medical check-up showed he had no condition that made exercise unsafe, 66-year-old Zhao Xin said he was stopped by staff at a local swimming pool from swimming with his grandson because of his age.
赵说：“泳池工作人员称，他们无法降低老年人运动的风险；如果接纳65岁以上的游泳者，当地有关部门就会对泳池进行处罚。”
“The pool’s staff said it wasn’t able to mitigate the risks of exercise for older people, and that if it admitted swimmers over 65, local authorities would penalise it,” Zhao said.
这位来自中国东部浙江省的前会计说：“退休后，我发现自己很多时候明明想花钱，却simply不被允许消费。”
“After I retired, I found that many times I want to spend money but am simply not allowed to,” said the former accountant from China’s eastern Zhejiang province.
近年来，正是赵这样精力充沛的退休人群在支撑中国持续疲软的消费。调查显示，从铁路出行到购买数字设备和汽车，中国老年群体的支出近期快速增长。
It is these energetic retirees like Zhao who are propping up China’s persistently lacklustre consumption in recent years. From rail travel to purchases of digital devices and cars, spending by China’s older cohort has seen rapid growth recently, research shows.
赵出生于1960年正值中国大饥荒时期，随后十年出现了婴儿潮。如今，这一代人大正陆续进入60至70岁的退休高峰年龄阶段，既带来了巨大的消费动力，也给养老金基金带来压力。
Zhao was born in 1960, during China’s Great Famine, which was followed by a baby boom in the decade after. That cohort is now entering peak retirement age of 60 to 70, bringing enormous consumer momentum, while also putting pressure on pension funds.
随着越来越多刚退休的人群在中国放缓的经济中贡献着越来越大的消费份额，一些研究人员呼吁社会减少年龄偏见，因为老年人会因年龄而无法获得参与社交活动和使用相关服务的机会。
As a growing group of newly retired people are contributing an increasing share of consumer spending in the slowing Chinese economy, some researchers are calling for less of an age bias in society – as senior citizens deprived of access to social engagement and services because of their age.
他们表示，这是阻碍中国银发经济发展的一大障碍，而银发经济正是未来增长的“新生引擎”。
This is a major obstacle hindering the development of China’s silver economy, which is the “new engine” of future growth, they said.
上海市养老服务与养老产业协会专家周红指出，婴儿潮期间每年出生人口超过2000万，而这一代人如今正进入一个拥有闲暇时间、精力和可支配资金的人生阶段。他认为，这些人蕴含着巨大潜力，可以在购物中心、剧院等场所的非高峰时段填补消费空缺，从而支撑中国整体消费。
Zhou Hong, an expert at the Shanghai Association for Elderly Care Services and the Senior Care Industry, noted that over 20 million births took place per year during the baby boom, and that the generation was now entering a life stage with leisure time, energy and money to spend. These people represent huge potential to fill off-peak gaps at venues from shopping malls to theatres, he argued, to support China’s overall consumption.
周警告说，社会上普遍存在对老年人的刻板印象，把他们等同于“高风险人士”或“需要照护的对象”。
Zhou warned that there was a widespread stereotype of older people in society, equating them with “high risk” or “objects of care”.
他说，针对老年人的年龄偏见不仅体现在健身会籍和航空出行方面，也存在于就业领域。上海市律师协会去年发布的一则招募公告称，只接受60岁以下的专家。
Age bias against senior citizens not only existed when it comes to gym memberships and air travel, he said, but also in employment. In a recruitment annoucement last year, the Shanghai Bar Association’s said it only would accept experts below 60.
“这种司空见惯的年龄歧视不仅限制了老年人的生活范围，也导致银发经济供需严重错配，”周上周在上海纽约大学举行的银发经济论坛上表示。
“This habitual age discrimination not only limits the scope of life for older adults, but also leads to a serious mismatch between supply and demand in the silver [economy],” Zhou said at a forum on the silver economy at NYU Shanghai last week.
周援引中国银联的数据称，今年第一季度，老年消费者在数字设备和铁路出行方面的支出同比分别增长逾200%和500%。
In the first quarter of this year, older consumers’ spending on digital devices and rail travel grew by more than 200 per cent and more than 500 per cent year-on-year, respectively, Zhou said, quoting data from UnionPay.
他说，老年人购买高价汽车的支出同比增长37%，而同期中国乘用车零售总量同比下降17.4%。
Big-ticket car purchases by older people, increased by 37 per cent year on year, compared with a 17.4 per cent year-on-year decline in China’s total passenger car retail sales over the same period, he said.
过去几年，中国一直着力应对国内消费疲软。最新官方数据显示，上个月零售额这一衡量消费者支出的重要指标同比增长0.4%。
China has been grappling with weak domestic consumption in the past couple of years. Latest official data showed that last month, retail sales – a major gauge of consumer spending – grew by 0.4 per cent year on year.
为更好地利用老年人才并缓解养老金压力，随着人口老龄化加剧，有关部门逐步提高法定退休年龄。自2025年起，男性退休年龄从60岁提高至63岁，白领女性从55岁提高至58岁，蓝领劳动者从50岁提高至55岁。
To take better advantage of older talent and ease pension pressure, authorities have been gradually raising the statutory retirement age as the population ages. Starting in 2025, the retirement age for men rose from 60 to 63, from 55 to 58 for women in white-collar jobs and from 50 to 55 for those in blue-collar work.
尽管如此，中国退休人士仍是世界上最年轻的人群之一。一些学者认为，保持活跃并积极参与社会有益于健康老龄化。
Despite that, Chinese retirees remain some of the world’s youngest, with some scholars arguing that staying active and engaged in society was a beneficial way to age.
人口老龄化若伴随健康状况改善，不仅可以减轻一个国家的医疗负担，还能让家庭成员从照护老人的任务中解放出来，提高其劳动力市场参与率。伦敦国王学院老年学研究所所长杨伟表示。
A healthier older population could not only ease a country’s medical burden, but also free up family members from elder care tasks and improve the relatives’ labour market participation, said Yang Wei, director of the Institute of Gerontology at King’s College London.
“在老年人服务方面投入资金，并不一定意味着花钱或浪费。在很大程度上，这反而可能为我们省钱，甚至促进资源得到更合理的配置。”她在上周举行的上海纽约大学活动上表示。
“Investing in services for older people doesn’t necessarily mean spending money or wasting it. To a large extent, it may save us money and even lead to a more rational allocation of resources,” she said at the NYU Shanghai event last week.
她的研究发现，长期改善老年人的身体机能，可能推动全球国内生产总值增长0.2%。
Long-term improvement in the functional capacity of older individuals could lead to a 0.2 per cent growth in global GDP, her research found.
来自浙江的退休人士赵某表示，他和其他同龄人可以通过购买新车、装修住宅或旅游等方式，继续成为活跃的消费者和社会贡献者。
Zhao, the Zhejiang retiree, said he and others his age could remain active consumers and contributors to society by buying new cars, renovating homes or engaging in travel.
“老年人的需求不只是得到照料——他们还需要各种产品和服务，以支持多元化的生活方式。”他说。左曼迪撰写
“Senior people’s demand is not just about being looked after – they also need a variety of products and services that can support a diverse lifestyle,” he said. By Mandy Zuo