Pension Reform in China

Abstract

This article analyzes China's pension arrangement and notes that China has recently established a universal non-contributory pension plan covering urban non-employed workers and all rural residents, combined with the pension plan covering urban employees already in place. Further, in the latest reform, China has discontinued the special pension plan for civil servants and integrated this privileged welfare class into the urban old-age pension insurance program. With these steps, China has achieved a degree of universalism and integration of its pension arrangement unprecedented in the non-Western world. Despite this radical pension transformation strategy, we argue that the current Chinese pension arrangement represents a case of "incomplete" universalism. First, its benefit level is low. Moreover, the benefit level varies from region to region. Finally, universalism in rural China has been undermined due to the existence of the "policy bundle." Additionally, we argue that the 2015 pension reform has created a situation in which the stratification of Chinese pension arrangements has been "flattened," even though it remains stratified to some extent. ARTICLE HISTORY

Preventative care utilization and associated health‐related measurements among older adults following the 2009 health reform in China

“…Presently, the Chinese health care system runs with three major social insurances, targeting different populations: Urban Employment Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI, for urban residents who work for formal or registered sectors, established in 1998), Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI, for unemployed urban residents such as students, established in 2007), and New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS, for rural residents, established in 2003). Additionally, the Chinese central government has developed various reforms to strengthen its pension system for supporting the poor . With the effort to decrease health disparity and provide sufficient coverage, the social insurances have covered nearly 95% of the Chinese citizens as of 2011 …”

Intergenerational differences in social support for the community‐living elderly in Beijing, China

“…Urban and rural residents receive different pension and health care benefits according to their household registration and status of employment. The Chinese government has established a universal non‐contributory pension plan covering urban non‐employed workers and rural residents, combined with an old‐age insurance program covering urban employees . However, the benefit amount of national social pension plan is very low, with a country average of 81 RMB (13 US dollars) per month in 2014.…”

“…The Chinese government has established a universal non-contributory pension plan covering urban non-employed workers and rural residents, combined with an old-age insurance program covering urban employees. 7 However, the benefit amount of national social pension plan is very low, with a country average of 81 RMB (13 US dollars) per month in 2014. By the end of 2013, 95% of the population was covered by one of the medical insurance schemes.…”

Do Private Household Transfers to the Elderly Respond to Public Pension Benefits? Evidence from Rural China

“…In this paper, we examine the impact of China's New Rural Pension Scheme (NRPS) on inter vivos private transfers (from children to parents and vice versa), particularly among adults in the age group of 60 years and above. 3 The NRPS program was introduced in 2009 in response to rising demographic and old-age poverty concerns in the last decade (Liu and Sun 2016;Holzman, Robalino and Takayama 2009: 111-18). 4 In 2007, approximately 11 percent of China's population was in the age group of 60 years and above, making up 21 percent of the world's elderly population (UN 2007).…”