How Does Delayed Retirement Reshape the Demand for Commercial Pension Products Among Older Adults? Evidence from the CLASS Survey, 2014–2023

As China enters an era of deep population aging and gradually raises the statutory retirement age, a central question emerges for the development of its pension finance system: To what extent, and through what mechanisms, does delayed retirement influence older adults’ demand for commercial pension products? Drawing on five waves of micro-panel data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS, 2014–2023), this study empirically examines the effects of delayed retirement on the demand for commercial pension products from the dual perspectives of income and social participation.The results show that delayed retirement significantly increases older adults’ demand for commercial pension products, and the findings remain robust across multiple empirical specifications. Mechanism analyses indicate that two channels—“income enhancement and improved payment capacity” and “social participation and heightened risk awareness”—partially mediate this relationship, with the latter playing a more substantial role. Heterogeneity analyses further reveal that the effect is more pronounced among men, individuals without formal employment status, and those with children living apart, while weaker among women and individuals with formal tenure positions.These results suggest that policy efforts should aim to strengthen the linkage between tax-deferred individual pension accounts and commercial annuities for delayed retirees, and to embed financial literacy initiatives into community and volunteer settings, thereby transforming the income and social participation advantages of delayed retirement into more sustainable and inclusive old-age security.