A historical review of social pension insurance for urban residents

On July 1, 2011, urban residents’ pension insurance was piloted at the national level. Following the 2009 new rural social pension insurance pilot, the Party Central Committee and the State Council accelerated the construction of a social security system covering urban and rural residents. Another major strategic deployment made is a major popular project to promote the construction of a harmonious society, which means that the millennium long-cherished wish of everyone in our country to have "someone to support themselves in old age" will basically be realized. Urban residents' pension insurance and the new rural insurance have many similarities in system design. They are both social pension insurance systems established under the leadership of the government. They implement a combination of individual contributions and government subsidies, as well as social pooling and personal accounts. The basic principles are “guaranteing basics, wide coverage, flexibility and sustainability”. This principle is consistent with the general policy for the construction of the social security system set by the central government. At the same time, it emphasizes "flexibility" based on the characteristics of urban residents. Its basic characteristics can be further summarized as follows:

First, wide coverage, basic protection and mechanism building. Social pension insurance should be adapted to the national conditions and the stage of economic and social development, as well as the affordability of the country and urban and rural residents. The so-called "guaranteing the basics" means that the current focus is to first establish a system that covers the entire population. Financing standards and treatment standards are consistent with economic development and the affordability of all aspects. Starting at a low level, we first solve the problem of "from scratch" , and with the development of the economy and society, we will gradually improve the system and improve the level of security, and then solve the problem of "from low to high" in a sequential manner. It can also be seen from the concept of basic pension that the government provides a basic guarantee. The standard for the national finance to fully pay the minimum basic pension cannot be too high. To achieve wide coverage under the current national conditions, it can only be a Only basic guarantees can ensure the sustainability of financial investment. Objectively speaking, the basic pension standard of 55 yuan per month is relatively low compared to my country's current overall economic development level. However, under the current situation of uneven regional development and limited financial resources in the central and western regions, "basic" pension security Standards can bring more urban residents into the pension security system, and are also an inevitable choice to achieve "wide coverage" and "sustainability" of pension security.

The second is voluntary participation, emphasis on incentives, and flexibility. The social pension insurance for urban residents implements the principle of combining government leadership and residents' voluntariness to guide urban residents to universally participate in the insurance. The system stipulates that people should voluntarily participate in insurance, and does not impose forced orders. Instead, it focuses on using financial subsidies to attract more residents to participate in insurance and expand coverage through incentives and guidance. Multiple levels are set up in the payment standard, and insured persons can choose independently. The system encourages paying more and getting more, and rights and obligations correspond to each other.

Third, the government promotes, the residents advance, and the government takes responsibility. The social pension insurance for urban residents is a combination of government leadership and residents' voluntariness. Individuals (families) and the government reasonably share responsibilities, and rights and obligations correspond to each other. In the initial stage of building a new system, government responsibilities must first be put in place.

The government’s investment responsibility is reflected in providing for both “entrance” and “export”. "Supplementary entrance" refers to providing financial subsidies to urban residents during the insurance payment process. The local people's government shall provide subsidies for the insurance participants' payment. The subsidy standard shall not be less than 30 yuan per person per year. For those who choose higher-level payment standards, they may be given Appropriate encouragement will be given to allow local governments to pay part or all of the minimum minimum pension insurance premiums for groups with difficulty in payment such as severely disabled people in urban areas. "Supplementary export" means providing financial subsidies in the payment of pension benefits. The government will fully pay the basic pension of urban residents' pension insurance to the insured persons who meet the conditions for receiving benefits. Establishing a social insurance system for urban residents is a great thing that benefits the country and the people and promotes social harmony. However, it is not easy to do good things well. There is a long way to go in building relevant systems, and several issues require high attention and proper resolution.

First, realize the unity and fairness of the pension insurance system.

my country's pension insurance system has always been criticized for its "fragmented" pattern: different basic pension security systems are applied between urban and rural areas, and between enterprises and government agencies. There are also large differences between regions, which not only results in The level of security is unfair, and it essentially divides my country's overall labor market into many parts, which restricts the orderly, effective and reasonable flow of labor, and cannot adapt to the rapid flow and continuous re-optimization of labor under the increasingly mature conditions of my country's market economy. Basic requirements for configuration. Although the pension insurance system has achieved full coverage, it has not solved the gap in benefits between civil servants, public institution cadres, enterprise employees, rural residents, and urban non-employed residents under the Unified Social Security Law. Big question. If this institutional dilemma is not resolved, true social justice cannot be achieved. After all, there are huge gaps in pension benefits standards between different systems. If the gap and unfairness in social security benefits between groups of people are solidified or even exacerbated simply because of the segmentation of the system, as a public policy of secondary distribution, this is obviously unreasonable and runs counter to the basic spirit of social security.

The second is to strengthen institutional incentives and move from "full coverage of the system" to "full coverage of the population" as soon as possible. Unlike social insurance, which is usually compulsory, urban residents’ social pension insurance pilots implement voluntary participation, so the incentive of the system is particularly critical. There are several issues worthy of attention. First, the system design must fully consider the guidance and encouragement of insured persons in certain age groups. According to the current policy, after 15 years of full payment and reaching the age of 60, the basic pension received is 55 yuan per person per month. This does not reflect the difference in the length of insurance participation, which may lead to special pensions for young people between 16 and 40 years old. It is residents under the age of 35 who are unwilling to sign up for insurance as early as possible. Second, payment subsidies should fully reflect the need to pay more and get more subsidy. If the payment level is subsidized at a unified standard of 30 yuan per person per year, it will lead to the majority of people preferring the "lower" payment standard. For example, a survey and statistics on the new rural insurance carried out by Chongqing City showed that the structure of the five payment levels of the new rural insurance participants in 2010 was: 100 yuan accounted for 93.18, 200 yuan accounted for 3.13, 400 yuan accounted for 1, Those with 600 yuan accounted for 0.55, and those with 900 yuan accounted for 2.14, indicating that the subsidy policy cannot effectively encourage high-level payment participation, and some people with higher payment ability choose low-standard payment. Third, the non-payment of insurance for the elderly over 60 years old requires the participation of children as a prerequisite, which is inconvenient when urban residents have complex family structures. It will also lead to situations where children participate in low-standard insurance for the first time or even do not renew the insurance later. Affect policy efficiency and continuity. In view of this, when implementing the social pension insurance system for urban residents, various localities should focus on moving from "full coverage of the system" to "full coverage of the population" as soon as possible. The establishment of a social insurance system for urban residents is a matter that benefits the country and the people and promotes social harmony. Great thing. However, it is not easy to do good things well, and there is a long way to go to build relevant systems. Under the principle of independent participation in insurance, incentives must be further enhanced to ensure that everyone who needs insurance is covered. Only in this way can true full coverage be achieved.

The third is to ensure that sufficient financing is in place. The Social Insurance Law, which was implemented on July 1, 2011, stipulates that when the basic pension insurance fund is insufficient to pay, the government will provide subsidies. The vacancy in my country's social security funds exceeds one trillion yuan, and as the population structure further ages, the gap will continue to expand. Expanding the coverage of pension insurance to benefit the people means that social security funds will face greater pressure in the future.

my country's enterprise pension replacement rate (the ratio between the pension level at retirement and the salary income level before retirement) has dropped to below 50, which is lower than the International Labor Organization's "Convention on Minimum Standards of Social Security". Low about 15. Taking into account the need to gradually improve the level of pension funds, the pressure on pension funds will be further tightened. At the same time, increasing the level of pension benefits is constrained by the contribution rate. Currently, my country’s social security contribution rate ranks first among 181 countries in the world. The sum of the contributions stipulated in the five social insurance laws is equivalent to 40% of the salary level. The number of regions has even reached 50, which means that there is not much room to open up pension funds in terms of contributions.

In short, with the establishment of the social pension insurance system for urban residents, the overall framework for all people in our country to enjoy social pension insurance has been formed, and a great plan has been drawn up. When implementing the pilot work of this system, various localities need to take into account actual conditions, strengthen the detailed design of the system, and ensure implementation. The central government should focus on the future and strengthen top-level design, do a good job in overall planning and coordination, further improve systems and mechanisms, and jointly promote the fair, inclusive and sustainable development of social pension security for all.