The difference between the pension of urban and rural residents is a major problem in China's current social development. Due to the influence of various historical and institutional factors, there are significant differences between urban and rural areas in terms of pension system, economic development level, employment form and resident income, which ultimately leads to the imbalance of urban and rural residents' pensions.
First, let's sort out the current situation. In urban areas, workers are usually employed by formal enterprises and are covered by social security schemes, such as pension insurance for enterprise workers. Most of the pension insurance is paid jointly by units and individuals, and after retirement, they enjoy a relatively stable and higher level of pension according to the payment period and payment amount. However, in rural areas, residents are mainly engaged in agricultural production and most of them are self-caring farmers and do not participate in insurance, or participate in the new rural social endowment insurance, because their income is generally low, so the amount of insurance contributions is relatively limited, resulting in the pension insurance payment base of rural residents is usually much lower than that of urban residents, and the corresponding pension level after retirement is also lower.
In addition, there are a series of other factors that contribute to the difference in pensions between urban and rural areas. The first is the problem of population mobility, with a large number of rural laborers flocking to cities, but due to the restrictions on the hukou system and the form of employment, they often do not enjoy the same social security benefits as local urban residents. The second is the difference in policy coverage, although the new rural pension insurance has basically achieved full coverage, but there is still a large gap between the specific provisions of pension standards and treatment and the city.
Improving this situation will require multifaceted efforts and reforms. The following are some suggestions for improving the current situation of pension differences between urban and rural residents:
1.Establish a unified rural and urban pension system to ensure fair pension treatment. By gradually raising the pension standard of rural areas and flexible workers, so that it is closer to or reaches the pension level of urban residents, so as to reduce the gap between urban and rural areas in old-age security.
2.Improve the transfer payment mechanism and support it through financial subsidies. For residents in rural and underdeveloped areas, the state finance should provide greater subsidies to ensure the basic pension standard and achieve social equity in the true sense.
3.Intensify the publicity of rural social security undertakings, and enhance the awareness of rural residents on the importance of old-age security. At the same time, by providing convenient channels for insurance payment, the threshold for residents in rural areas to participate in insurance is lowered.
4.Reform the domestic hukou system and eliminate the inequalities in social security caused by hukou. Rural laborers working and living in cities should be given more equal rights, so that they can enjoy the same old-age security treatment as urban residents.
5.Promote the national overall planning of pension insurance, break the situation of local division, promote the balanced development of pension levels, and try to narrow the regional gap.
6.At the same time, encourage and cultivate a multi-level and multi-channel old-age security system. In addition to the basic national pension insurance, enterprises and individuals should also be encouraged to diversify the preparation of retirement pensions through commercial pension insurance, personal savings, pension financial products, etc.
7.Enhance social insurance coverage for people in flexible employment. For flexible forms of employment such as freelancers and gig economy workers, we provide more flexible insurance payment plans and protection plans that are more suitable for their needs.
To sum up, reducing and eventually eliminating the inequality of urban and rural residents' pensions is a long-term and arduous task, which requires the state to cooperate and improve in terms of policies, laws and economic support. We need to deepen the reform of the social insurance system, improve the system design, innovate the means of security, and strengthen social consensus, so as to achieve a fair and adequate guarantee of pension treatment for all citizens. Only in this way can we build a more just and more adaptable to the requirements of social development of the national old-age security system.