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| TOKYO — All Yoshihito Oonami wants to do is retire and give his worn body a rest. | 东京——大波良仁（音）只想退休，让自己疲惫的身体不再操劳。 |
| Instead, every morning at 1:30, Mr. Oonami, 73, wakes up and drives an hour to a fresh produce market on an islet in Tokyo Bay. While loading mushrooms, ginger root, sweet potatoes, radishes and other vegetables into his car, he frequently lifts boxes that weigh more than 15 pounds, straining his back. He then drives across Japan’s capital city, making restaurant deliveries up to 10 times a day. | 然而，现年73岁的大波良仁仍每天凌晨1点30起床，然后开一个小时的车来到位于东京湾一座小岛上的新鲜农产品市场。他把蘑菇、生姜、红薯、萝卜和其他蔬菜装上车，常常需要搬七八公斤重的蔬菜盒，很伤腰。然后他开车把蔬菜送到分布在日本首都各处的餐馆，每天最多要给10家餐馆送菜。 |
| “As long as my body lets me, I need to keep working,” Mr. Oonami said on a recent morning, checking off orders on a clipboard as he walked briskly through the market. | “只要身体允许，我需要继续工作，”大波良仁在最近的一个凌晨说，他一边核对着写字夹板上的订单，一边在市场里快步走动。 |
| With populations across East Asia declining and fewer young people entering the work force, increasingly workers like Mr. Oonami are toiling well into their 70s and beyond. Companies desperately need them, and the older employees desperately need the work. Early retirement ages have bloated the pension rolls, making it difficult for governments in Asia to pay retirees enough money each month to live on. | 随着东亚地区的人口下降，进入劳动力市场的年轻人数量减少，越来越多像大波良仁这样的70多岁甚至年纪更大的工人仍在工作。公司迫切需要他们，而这些高龄工人也迫切需要工作。较低的退休年龄已导致领养老金的人过多，让亚洲各地的政府向退休人员发放足以维持每月生计的养老金变得困难。 |
| Demographers have warned about a looming demographic time bomb in wealthy nations for years. But Japan and its neighbors have already started to feel the effects, with governments, companies — and most of all, older residents — grappling with the far-reaching consequences of an aging society. The changes have been most pronounced in the workplace. | 多年来，人口学家一直对富裕国家面临人口老龄化的潜在危险发出警告。然而，日本及其邻国已开始受这个问题的影响，政府、企业，尤其是老年居民正在努力设法应对老龄化社会带来的深远影响。这种变化在工作场所最为明显。 |
| Working at his age “is not fun,” said Mr. Oonami, rummaging through a box of carrots. “But I do it to survive.” | 到了这个年纪仍在工作“一点也不开心”，大波良仁一边倒腾着一盒胡萝卜一边说。“但我这样做是为了生计。” |
| For some older people, the demand for workers has given them new opportunities and leverage with employers, especially if they felt pushed out by early retirement ages in favor of younger workers. Now, the question these aging nations are grappling with is how to adapt to the new reality — and potential benefits — of an older work force, while ensuring that people can retire after a lifetime of work without falling into poverty. | 对一些上了年纪的人来说，对劳动力的需求给他们提供了新机会和向雇主讨价还价的筹码，尤其是在他们觉得由于退休年龄偏低、雇主想聘用更年轻的工人而迫使他们过早退出劳动力市场的时候。如今，这些正在老龄化的国家需要努力解决的问题是，如何适应老年劳动力市场的新现实及其潜在好处，同时确保人们在工作了一辈子后能退休，而不至于陷入贫困。 |
| In East Asia, where populations are graying faster than anywhere else in the world, there is an urgent need for more flexibility. Japan, South Korea and China have all been forced to experiment with policy changes — such as corporate subsidies and retirement adjustments — to accommodate population shifts. Now, with the rest of the world not far behind, many nations will likely look to Asia for lessons in how to respond to similar crises. | 东亚人口老龄化的速度比世界上任何其他地方都快，该地区的政府迫切需要在退休问题上有更为灵活的做法。日本、韩国和中国为适应人口的变化，都已被迫尝试改变政策，例如给企业提供补贴，调整退休年龄等。现在，随着世界其他地区也在面临人口老龄化的问题，许多国家可能会转向亚洲，来学习如何应对这类危机的经验教训。 |
| “Are you just going to panic about it and run around being frightened?” said Stuart Gietel Basten, a professor of social science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “Or do you say, ‘It’s very complex, and we will have to adapt our lives and institutions in lots and lots of different ways?’” | “是被问题吓得惊慌失措呢？还是说，‘这个问题非常复杂，我们将不得不在生活和制度上做出许多不同方式的调整？’”香港科技大学社会科学教授贝斯图(Stuart Gietel Basten)问道。 |
| Adapting to the needs of older workers. | 适应老年工人的需求。 |
| Long before Mr. Oonami started delivering vegetables, he tried working in an office and as a cabdriver. Eventually, he decided he preferred the solo life of a truck driver. That decision consigned him to perennial contract work rather than the more traditional path taken by many early postwar employees in Japan, with lifelong jobs of guaranteed salaries, regular promotions and corporate retirement benefits. | 早在大波良仁开始做送菜工作之前，他尝试过白领工作，还当过出租车司机。他最终决定自己更喜欢卡车司机这种独自一人干的活儿。这个决定让他长年从事合同工作，而不是走更传统的道路，像日本“二战”后的许多早期雇员那样，一辈子干工资有保障、定期晋升、享受公司退休福利的工作。 |
| As a truck driver, Mr. Oonami would often lift heavy cargo, which became unsustainable for him after he turned 50. His doctor told him that so much lifting had worn down the cartilage in his spine. “Moving the boxes was very rough for my body,” Mr. Oonami said. | 卡车司机的工作让大波良仁经常搬运重物，这在他50岁后变得不可持续。他的医生对他说，这么经常地搬重物已导致他脊椎的软骨磨损。“搬箱子很耗我的身体，”大波良仁说。 |
| He switched to smaller delivery jobs and landed a contract at the produce market about 15 years ago. Yet even as he approached Japan’s traditional retirement age of 60, Mr. Oonami could not afford to stop working. Having held contract gigs his entire career, he is only eligible for a basic national pension — about 60,000 yen a month, or about $477 — not enough to cover his daily expenses. | 大约15年前，他转向运送较小物品的工作，拿到了一份农产品市场的合同。然而，就在他快到日本传统的退休年龄60岁时，大波良仁发现他不能停止工作。因为他的整个职业生涯干的都是合同工，只有资格领取基本国民养老金，每月只有约6万日元（约合人民币3085元），不够支付他的日常生活费用。 |
| Japan isn’t the only country in East Asia where older people feel they have no choice but to keep working. In South Korea, with a poverty rate among older people close to 40 percent, a similar proportion of those 65 and older are still working. In Hong Kong, one in eight older residents works. The ratio is more than a quarter in Japan — compared to 18 percent in the United States. | 日本并不是老年人觉得自己除了继续工作别无选择的唯一东亚国家。在老年人贫困率接近40%的韩国，65岁及以上的老年人中仍在工作的比例也接近40%。香港老年居民中有12.5%仍在工作。日本老年人工作的比例超过25%，高于美国的18%。 |
| In Japan and South Korea, temporary job agencies and unions have formed to support these older laborers. While many of them must work out of economic necessity, employers have also become more reliant on them. | 日本和韩国已成立了为这些老年劳动者介绍临时职业的机构和帮助他们的工会。虽然他们中的许多人必须工作是出于经济需要，但雇主们也已变得更加依赖他们。 |
| To cope with what demographers call “super aging societies,” policymakers in East Asia initially focused on trying to spur births and tinkering with immigration laws to shore up work forces. Such measures have done little to alter the aging trend line, as fertility rates have plunged and many countries have resisted large-scale immigration plans. | 为了妥善处理被人口学家称为“超老龄社会”的问题，东亚国家的政策制定者们最初曾把重点放在试图刺激生育和修改移民法上，以稳住劳动力市场。这些措施对改变老龄化趋势收效甚微，生育率继续大幅下降，许多国家对大规模移民计划有抵触情绪。 |
| That has left employers desperate for workers. In Japan, for example, surveys show that as many as half of companies report shortages of full-time workers. Older workers have stepped in to fill the gaps. “We have so much unused and untapped working capacity,” said Naohiro Ogawa, a visiting fellow at the Asian Development Bank Institute. | 这让雇主对工人的需求更加迫切。例如，日本的调查显示，多达一半的公司有全职工人短缺的问题。老年工人能为填补这个空缺做贡献。“我们有太多闲着的、没用上的工作能力，”亚洲开发银行研究所访问研究员小川尚弘（音）说。 |
| Koureisha is a temporary agency in Tokyo where job listings specify that applicants must be at least 60 years old. Fumio Murazeki, the president, said he believed employers were growing more receptive to hiring older workers. “People who are over 65, or even up until 75, they are very active and healthy,” he said. | 帮助老年工人寻找临时工作的高龄社株式会社提供的招聘信息明确规定，申请者必须年满60岁。该株式会社的法人代表村关不三夫说，他相信雇主们正越来越接受雇佣老年工人的想法。“65岁以上甚至高达75岁的人仍非常有活力且身体健康，”他说。 |
| Rental car agencies and building concierge services are eager to hire older workers, said Mr. Murazeki. One popular job for older contract workers is to sit in the front passenger seat of service vehicles while electricians or gas repairmen assist clients on site. The contract worker can move the vehicle when necessary, helping companies avoid parking tickets or traffic fines, Mr. Murazeki said. | 村关不三夫说，汽车租赁和提供大楼看门服务的公司都很愿意雇用老年人。他说，从事合同工作的老年人喜欢干的一种工作是，在上门服务的电工或燃气修理工开车到现场为客户提供服务时，坐在服务车辆的前排乘客座位上。这样，在有必要时，老年合同工可以把车开走，帮助服务公司避免停车罚单或交通罚款。 |
| At Tokyu Community, a property management company for apartment complexes in Tokyo, almost half the staff is 65 or older, said Hiroyuki Ikeda, head of human resources. With a salary of just 2,300,000 yen a year — less than $17,146 — the jobs do not appeal to younger workers, while older people are willing to accept the low pay to supplement their pension income. | 东京管理公寓楼的物业公司东急的人力资源主管池田容之（音）说，公司几乎一半的员工年龄在65岁或以上。这家公司的年薪只有230万日元（约合11.8万人民币），对年轻工人没有吸引力，而老年人愿意接受这种低工资，将其作为他们养老金的补贴。 |
| The Japanese government now provides subsidies to small- and medium-sized companies that install accommodations for older workers, like additional railings on staircases or extra rest areas for workers. | 日本政府现在向为老年工人安装适当设施的中小型公司提供补贴，例如在楼梯上增加扶手，或为工人提供额外的休息区。 |
| Gloria, a company outside of Tokyo that produces uniforms for policemen, abolished its mandatory retirement age six years ago because of a labor shortage. To assist its older workers, the company built a ramp to the front door and moved electrical wires previously strung across the factory floor to the walls and ceilings to prevent employees from tripping. | Gloria是东京郊外一家生产警察制服的公司，由于劳动力短缺，该公司已在六年前取消了强制退休年龄。为了给老年工人提供帮助，公司在大门前修了一个坡道，并把以前安装在工厂地板上的电线改装到墙上和天花板上，以防止员工绊倒。 |
| On its website, Gloria says it wants to “become a company where people can work until they themselves decide they want to quit.” | Gloria在其网站上称，它想“成为一家工人可以一直干到自行决定退休的公司”。 |
| Aikawa Unsou, a delivery company, installed grip handles in its trucks to help drivers climb into and out of vehicles. “The work environment has to be aging-friendly,” said Feng Qiushi, an associate professor of anthropology and sociology at the National University of Singapore. “They need to provide training opportunities and provide flexible retirement opportunities.” | 快递公司相川运送在公司的卡车上安装了帮助司机上下车的把手。“工作环境需要对老龄化友好，”新加坡国立大学人类学和社会学副教授冯秋石说。“需要给老年工人提供培训机会和灵活退休的机会。” |
| Trying to make ends meet on a small pension. | 试着靠小额养老金维持生计。 |
| While social media will often showcase inspirational septuagenarians lifting weights or running successful small businesses, older people in China, Hong Kong, Japan or South Korea are just as likely to be low-paid office cleaners, grocery store clerks, delivery service drivers or security guards. | 虽然社交媒体经常会展示70多岁老人举重或成功经营小企业的励志故事，但中国、香港、日本或韩国的老年人更可能是低薪办公室清洁工、杂货店店员、送货服务司机或保安。 |
| Full-time, stable employment is reserved for the relatively young in these countries, leaving many older workers to engage in precarious, low-wage contract jobs after being forced out of their long-term employment by low retirement ages. Once they retire, state-backed pensions usually do not cover basic living expenses. In Japan, China and South Korea, the average monthly pension is under $500. And unlike in the United States, 401(k)s are not yet widely available in the region. | 在这些国家，全职、稳定的工作留给了相对年轻的人口，许多年长的工作者在因低退休年龄而被迫退出长期工作后，只能成为不稳定、低薪的合同工。一旦退休，国家支持的养老金通常无法支付基本生活费用。在日本、中国和韩国，平均每月的养老金不到500美元。与美国不同的是，类似401K的退休福利计划在该地区尚未普及。 |
| To help fend off a labor shortage and keep up with pension payments, governments are trying to nudge retirement ages higher, which has sparked some resistance. In China, “people get angry,” said Sheying Chen, a professor of public administration and social policy at Pace University in New York. “They say, ‘I worked full-time and made it to retirement age — you want me to work more?’” | 为了帮助抵御劳动力短缺并跟上养老金支付的步伐，各国政府正试图推迟退休年龄，这引发了一些阻力。在中国，“人们会生气，”纽约佩斯大学公共管理和社会政策教授陈社英说。“他们说，‘我全职工作，到了退休年龄——你还要我继续工作？’” |
| More often, it is employers who balk at legislative efforts to lift retirement ages. With the seniority-based pay systems that are prevalent across East Asia, companies want to push older employees off the payroll, not extend their time on the job. | 更多时候，对于推迟退休年龄的立法努力持反对态度的是雇主。由于东亚地区普遍采用以资历为基础的薪酬体系，公司希望将工资表中的年长员工剔除，而不是延长他们的工作时间。 |
| “Even if older people are equally productive, if you’re forced to pay them more because they have been hanging around longer, their cost-effectiveness is going to be lower,” said Philip O’Keefe, a director at the Centre of Excellence in Population Aging Research in Sydney, Australia. | 位于澳大利亚悉尼的人口老龄化研究卓越中心主任菲利普·奥基夫说：“即使老年人的工作效率相同，如果你因为他们的工龄更长而被迫给他们更多的钱，他们的成本效益也会降低。” |
| In the absence of more government support, some older people are forging their own working opportunities. Li Man, 67, was forced to retire at 45 from a job at a state-owned refrigerated warehouse in Beijing. The government told her it was too dangerous for her to continue working in freezing temperatures. | 在缺乏政府更多支持的情况下，一些老年人正在为他们自己创建工作机会。67岁的李曼（音）在45岁时被迫从北京一家国有冷冻仓库退休。政府告诉她，在冰冷的温度下继续工作对她来说太危险了。 |
| Ms. Li figured she could still work “in the prime time of my life” to afford her daughter’s tuition and living expenses at film school in California. She started babysitting and selling homemade dishes like braised fish and stir-fried pork with squash to neighbors. | 李曼认为她仍然可以“在自己人生的黄金时期”工作，以支付女儿在加州电影学校的学费和生活费。她开始帮人带孩子，做红烧鱼和南瓜炒肉等家常菜卖给邻居。 |
| “Going back to work has made me less anxious,” said Ms. Li. Yet lately, she is plagued by back pain and high blood pressure. “Maybe it’s time to retire,” she said. | “重返工作让我不那么焦虑了，”李曼说。然而最近，她饱受背痛和高血压的困扰。“也许是时候退休了，”她说。 |
| For Mr. Oonami, the vegetable delivery man in Japan, retirement is just a dream. A twice-divorced father of three, he lives with his youngest son. He has no savings and said he takes vitamin supplements to keep healthy. “Right now,” he said, “I can’t even imagine a life where I am not working.” | 对于日本送菜员大波良仁来说，退休只是一个梦想。他离过两次婚，是三个孩子的父亲。他和小儿子住在一起。他没有积蓄，说他服用维生素补充剂来保持健康。“现在，”他说，“我甚至无法想象一个没有工作的生活。” |
| Given his early schedule, he has little time for hobbies. When he arrives home in the afternoon, Mr. Oonami usually fixes himself a stir-fried dinner, feeds his two Maltese dogs and falls asleep by 6 p.m. | 由于工作时间很早，他几乎没有时间从事业余爱好。当他下午回到家时，大波良仁通常会给自己炒几个菜当晚餐，给他的两只马耳他犬喂食，然后在下午6点前入睡。 |
| “You shouldn’t work until the end.” | “你不应该工作到最后一刻。” |
| Eiji Sudo, 69, wasn’t quite ready to retire. | 69岁的须藤英二（音）还没有完全准备好退休。 |
| He had spent more than four decades working maintenance and construction jobs at Tokyo Gas, a natural gas supplier. He retired at 60, and the company offered him a four-day-a-week contract at about half his peak salary. Once he hit 65, though, the company would no longer extend his contract, he said. | 他在天然气供应商东京瓦斯从事维护和建筑工作超过40年。他60岁退休，公司向他提供了一份每周工作四天的合同，薪水约为他最高工资的一半。不过，他说，他一到65岁，公司就不会再延长他的合同。 |
| To earn enough money to travel comfortably with his wife, Kazue, Mr. Sudo wanted to keep working. He signed up with the Koureisha agency and now works as a contractor for Asuqa, a gas pipeline company in Tokyo. Three days a week he drives to neighborhoods where the company is installing or repairing gas lines, knocking on doors to inform residents of upcoming construction work. | 为了赚到足够的钱与妻子和江舒适地旅行，须藤想继续工作。他与高龄者机构签约，现在是东京天然气管道公司Asuqa的承包商。他每周有三天开车到公司正在安装或维修输气管线的社区，敲门告知居民即将进行的施工工作。 |
| About one in 10 workers at Asuqa are 65 or older. Most of them officially retired at 60 — the company’s retirement age — and subsequently accepted contract roles at reduced pay. “We have always had to supplement by rehiring older workers,” said Kazuyuki Tabata, an Asuqa manager. | Asuqa大约十分之一的员工年龄在65岁或以上。他们中的大多数人在公司的退休年龄60岁正式退休，随后接受了减薪的合同工职位。Asuqa经理田端和幸（音）说：“我们一直不得不通过重新雇用年长的工人来填补空缺。” |
| Mr. Sudo said he enjoys traveling across multiple suburbs and meeting new people. It keeps him curious and engaged, he said, and is better than playing golf every day. “Every person is different,” he said. “It is good for me.” | 须藤说他喜欢在郊区旅行并结识新朋友。他说，这让他保持好奇和投入，而且比每天打高尔夫球更好。“每个人都是不同的，”他说。“这对我有好处。” |
| His wife, who faithfully packs him a homemade lunch when he works, appreciates that he gets out of the house: It means they both have “our ‘me time,’” she said. Still, “it would be very sad for anyone to die working,” she added. “You shouldn’t work until the end like that.” | 在他工作的日子里，妻子会认真地为他准备便当，她很感谢他走出家门：这意味着他们都有“自我时间”，她说。尽管如此，“任何人在工作中死去都会非常悲哀，”她还说。“你不应该那样工作到最后一刻。” |
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