TOKYO, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Reforms are needed for Japan's population aged 50 or older who are jobless as a recent study showed that the group could increase 29 percent to reach 59 per 100 workers in the country by 2050, local media reported Wednesday.
According to the Working Better with Age, a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the jobless situation in Japan's older population would strain public retirement schemes.
The report said with a delay in the average age at which older workers retire plus a reduction in the gender gap in labor force, Japan can slow the expected growth to 5 percent.
There is room for improvement in terms of incentives for people to work longer, job opportunities at an older age and employability of elderly workers, according to the report.
Japan is "paradoxical" in terms of its high-competence workers but low utilization rates, Stefano Scarpetta, the OECD's director for employment, labor and social affairs, has told a press conference in Tokyo.
"Some of the competence that women have is not fully exploited as well as some of the competence of the older workers," he said.
In 2018, the labor participation rate of women aged between 25 and 54 in Japan was just under 79 percent, well below the rate in other advanced OECD nations.
It is also a main challenge for Japan to ensure better job opportunities for people aged 60 to 65, who often land non-regular jobs with much lower pay or poor working conditions, Scarpetta said.
