Introduction: On March 5, 2024, Premier Li Qiang proposed in the work report that China will strengthen social security and services, implement the national strategy of actively responding to the aging of the population, and increase the minimum monthly standard of basic pension for urban and rural residents by 20 yuan this year. This measure is undoubtedly a great benefit for urban and rural residents. However, there is still a certain gap between the magnitude and speed of the increase in the pension of urban and rural residents and the pension of urban workers. This paper will analyze the current situation, challenges and future reform directions of urban and rural residents' pensions.
First, the current situation of pensions for urban and rural residents.
China's endowment insurance is mainly divided into basic endowment insurance for urban workers and basic endowment insurance for urban and rural residents. The basic old-age insurance for urban and rural residents is a merger of the original new rural social old-age insurance and urban residents' social old-age insurance, which was implemented in 2014. The system consists of two parts: basic pension and personal account pension, of which the basic pension comes from the first and local financial subsidies, and the personal account pension comes from the annual pension insurance paid by the insured themselves.
According to Zhang Dong, associate professor of the College of Humanities and Development of China Agricultural University and executive deputy secretary-general of the 50-person forum on ageing finance, this year should be the sixth time that China has raised the minimum standard of basic pension for urban and rural residents, and it is also the largest increase since the establishment of the system. This increase is very good for urban and rural residents, and each person can receive more than 200 yuan per year in terms of treatment.
Second, the challenges faced by urban and rural residents' pensions.
Although the pension benefits of urban and rural residents have been improved, there is still a certain gap compared with the pension of urban workers. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of last year, the number of people participating in the basic old-age insurance for urban and rural residents was 545.22 million, a decrease of 4.3 million. The main reasons for the decline in the number of urban and rural residents participating in the old-age insurance are: the proportion of rural migrant workers participating in the old-age insurance for urban workers is relatively large; The aging population in rural areas is relatively serious, and the mortality rate of the elderly is relatively high; the change of the concept of insurance participation of flexible employees, etc.
Third, the direction of pension reform for urban and rural residents.
In view of the problems existing in the pension system for urban and rural residents, the future reform direction mainly includes the following aspects:
1.Increase the basic pension benefits. The basic pension will be converted into an inclusive pension, which will be received directly at the age of 60. Improving the basic pension benefits mainly depends on financial support.
2.Optimize the personal account pension system. The reform of old-age insurance for urban and rural residents should no longer follow the institutional model of old-age insurance for urban employees, but should be composed of inclusive pension plus relatively flexible personal pension with the nature of financial subsidies.
3.Improve the policy of supplementary payment of basic old-age insurance for urban and rural residents. For insured persons who have reached the age of 60 and have paid contributions for less than 15 years, they should be allowed to pay the insurance premiums for 15 years at one time to ensure that they can receive their benefits on time and in full when they are 60 years old.
4.Raise the income level of rural residents. To solve the pension problem of urban and rural residents at the root, it is necessary to improve the income level of rural residents, so as to increase the level of pension contributions, and finally enjoy better treatment.
Conclusion: The minimum monthly pension standard for urban and rural residents has been increased by 20 yuan, which is the embodiment of the state's attention and efforts to the old-age security of urban and rural residents. However, compared with the pension of urban workers, there is still a certain gap between the pension of urban and rural residents. In the future, we should start from many aspects, such as improving the basic pension treatment, optimizing the personal account pension system, and improving the supplementary payment policy, so as to promote the reform and improvement of the pension system for urban and rural residents, so that urban and rural residents can enjoy more adequate pension security in their later years.