What Is a Pension Shortfall?

Pensions, also called retirement pensions and retirement expenses, are one of the most important social pension insurance benefits. That is, the relevant state documents stipulate that after the workers are old or incapacitated, according to their contribution to society and their eligibility for retirement insurance or retirement conditions, the monthly or one-time payment of monetary benefits is The needs for the benefit of society are mainly used to protect the basic living needs of employees after retirement. Pensions are accumulated and operated in accordance with the principle of state, collective and individual accumulation. When people are strong and prosperous, part of the wealth created is invested in pension plans to ensure that they are well-off.

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On June 29, 2015, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the

China's pensions are mainly divided into two categories: retirement pensions for employees of institutions and institutions and retirement pensions for employees of enterprises. The different systems implemented by the two are widely referred to as pensions by public opinion "

(I) Differences due to different accounting bases

Individuals participating in the basic endowment insurance can accumulate contributions for 15 years when they reach the legal retirement age.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced on the 27th that starting from August 1, 2014, the first 2 monthly basic pension accounts of retirees and no more than 2500 yuan (including 2500 yuan) will be exempted. The Bank's off-site cash withdrawal fee, and the amount in each of the first two transactions exceeding 2500 yuan, and the amount after the third transaction can be charged by the Bank's off-site cash withdrawal fee.

With the consent of the State Council, the Notice on Printing and Distributing the Government Pricing List for Government Guidance Prices for Commercial Bank Services issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and the China Banking Regulatory Commission will be implemented from August 1, 2014. The second article of the notice stipulates: "Commercial banks are exempt from the personal basic pension (including retirement pension) accounts signed by the social insurance agency and the Bank. The first two monthly payments shall not exceed 2500 yuan (including 2500 yuan). ) Cash withdrawal fee of the Bank (including our counter and ATM). "

According to reports, when implemented on August 1, basic pensions are still issued through bank-specific passbooks and debit cards, and the pension is marked on the passbook and on the card statement. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and other requirements require that when the personal basic pension account is changed, all localities must do a good job of switching between exempting the bank's cash withdrawal fee at different locations.

In 1991, the "Decision of the State Council on the Reform of Enterprise Employee Endowment Insurance System" (Guo Fa [1991] No. 33) stipulated that with the development of the economy, it was gradually established

Promulgation of interim measures

On December 22, 2009, the Executive Meeting of the State Council decided to implement the Interim Measures for the Transfer and Continuation of the Basic Pension Insurance Relations of Urban Enterprise Employees from January 1, 2010. The interim measures are clear. For all persons including migrant workers who participate in the basic endowment insurance for urban enterprise employees, the basic endowment insurance relationship can be transferred with them when they are employed across provinces. At the same time that the personal account storage amount is transferred, the unit payment of 12 %; The insured person's contribution years in each place are combined and calculated, and the personal account storage amount is calculated cumulatively, and they treat all migrant workers equally. In order to avoid the insured personnel traveling back and forth between the two places due to the renewal of the relationship, the interim measures stipulated a unified process for the insured personnel to leave the place of employment, and the social insurance agency will issue a certificate of payment of insurance participation; Insurance, you only need to make a written application for renewal of the relationship, and the social security agency in the place of transfer in and out will coordinate the review, confirmation and cross-region renewal procedures for it. In the current situation, the introduction of transfer and continuation measures is of great significance for solving practical problems.

(1) Promoting the construction of the social security system

First, the realization of the cross-province transfer of pension insurance relations has made the system more fair. It has solved the dysfunctions of the difficulty of the cross-province transfer of old-age pension relationships in different places from the source, protected the inter-provincial mobile employment insurance contributions and intermittent employment pension rights, and ensured In order to make migrant workers enjoy the same old-age insurance benefits as employees in urban enterprises, it is an improvement in promoting fairness in the system.

The second is to open a channel for expanding coverage. The existing endowment insurance system has basically achieved full insurance coverage among employees in urban enterprises. The dead end and difficulty lies in the floating population and flexible employment. Due to the difficulty of transferring the social security relationship in the past, or only refunding personal accounts, most mobile employees do not Willing to join or surrender. The interim measures have opened a horizontal channel for migrant workers and flexible employment in cities and towns, removed major barriers, opened a door, and overcame an institutional difficulty in implementing full coverage by 2020.

The third is to help eliminate the fragmentation of the social security system. Combining the transition methods of the two groups, namely flexible employment in cities and migrant workers, not only solves the problem of transition difficulties of these two groups, but also lays the foundation for solving the fragmentation of the old-age insurance system.

(2) Conducive to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers and social stability

Realizing the cross-province transfer of old-age insurance relations, breaking the barriers of regional division and urban-rural division, and solving the problem of insured persons losing their old-age insurance rights due to the change of employment place and intermittent employment, and the majority of migrant workers can rest assured. At the same time, it will increase the self-confidence of this group, change the social mentality of this group, promote its integration in urban life, prevent the intensification of social conflicts, and promote social stability.

(3) Conducive to economic construction First, it is conducive to accelerating the process of urbanization.

The Central Economic Work Conference put forward the need to actively promote urbanization and relax household registration restrictions in small and medium-sized cities. The continued transfer of social security relations among the floating population will promote the transition from rural migrant workers to non-agricultural workers, especially the historical process of the new generation of migrant workers who settled and settled in cities. Second, it is conducive to the formation of a large national labor market. The free movement of labor and the redistribution of production factors will reduce the employment costs of enterprises, increase their competitiveness, increase economic benefits, and promote economic growth. The third is to help stabilize the consumption expectations of migrant workers. Migrant workers are a huge social group, an irreplaceable construction army, and an important consumer group. After the problem of renewal is solved, migrant workers will fully guarantee that they will stabilize their consumption expectations, build consumer confidence, improve the overall living standards of migrant workers, and objectively promote economic growth.

Continuation of work

(I) In-depth study and mastering of the main contents of the Interim Measures

In order to implement the interim measures, we must first carefully study and understand the basic content and main points, including: inter-provincial transfer. The inter-provincial transfer and continuation of old-age insurance relationships in various places must be unified in accordance with the temporary provisions of the amount of transfer funds and unified transfer handling rules, so as to achieve the smooth transfer of continuity of basic old-age insurance relationships in the case of inter-provincial mobile employment.

Transfer of pooled funds. In addition to the transfer of personal account storage, it is also necessary to pay 12% of the unit's paid salary for each year.

Collect in one place. Allow each eligible participant to clearly receive basic pension insurance benefits in one place. First of all, based on the location of the household registration; when the location of the endowment insurance relationship is not the same as the location of the household registration, according to "Congchang" (the place where the insurance has been paid for 10 years) and "after" The last place to participate in the insurance) principle determines the place to receive benefits; if there is no place to participate in insurance for more than 10 years, it will be transferred back to the place of residence.

Accumulation of equity. The pension benefits of the mobile employment insured must be calculated cumulatively, the payment years in different places are combined, and the personal account storage amount is cumulatively calculated. When the insured person interrupts the payment, the original insurance place retains his old-age insurance relationship and personal account; in the future, no matter where he re-employs and continues to participate in the insurance payment, the previous and subsequent payment years are combined and the personal account storage amount is calculated cumulatively.

Same treatment. Migrant workers who participate in urban mobile employment insurance contributions have reached the national statutory retirement age, and the cumulative payment period has reached 15 years or more. They can receive basic endowment insurance benefits on a monthly basis in the same way as urban employees.

Termination of surrender. When migrant workers interrupt their employment or payment is interrupted during their return to their hometown, the social insurance agency in the participating place will continue to maintain their basic endowment insurance relationship, issue a certificate of participating payment, and no longer need to go through the formalities of surrender.

(2) Perform accurate and quick handling operations

First of all, according to the interim measures and local actual conditions, reasonable handling procedures and operating methods shall be formulated to manage the payment vouchers and individual account transfer management of the insured persons (including the management of the transfer across the overall scope and the management of the transfer across the overall scope), the temporary Make detailed arrangements for account management, account handling for inter-provincial repetitive payers, and more.

Secondly, in the operation, carefully review the reporting conditions for the transfer of inter-provincial transfer personnel, and for those who confirm that they meet the transfer conditions, the basic information should be accurately entered into the system and transfer renewal procedures should be handled in accordance with regulations. For transferees, it is necessary to carefully check the transfer-in base amount and enter the transfer fund matching into the pension insurance pooling fund and personal account.

Third, the fund management department should accurately and timely enter the transferred funds into the system, and keep and keep accounts.

Fourth, the regional agencies should be closely connected, operate accurately and quickly, and find out problems and contact them in a timely manner to ensure that the transfer and connection of insured personnel is completed in a timely manner according to the prescribed time limit, and the transfer and management services for the transferred personnel are effectively done.

Achieve overall planning

(I) Establish a unified national information system platform

Mobile phone cards and bank cards can roam the country, and social security cards must roam the country! This is the goal to be pursued by the Jinbao Project. At present, each coordinating area has its own independent information management system, and many links have to be handled manually during the transfer and connection process, filling in forms, stamping, and providing credentials, and the procedures are complicated. Therefore, a unified social insurance relationship information database must be established as soon as possible to achieve social networking and information sharing across the country.

First, based on the establishment of a first-level social security information network technology service at the prefecture and city level, the inter-city and inter-provincial-city networking and information sharing will be gradually implemented to provide fast and accurate services for highly mobile migrant workers when they continue their social insurance relationship. Finally, the interconnection and exchange of information on social insurance relations across the country will be realized.

Secondly, the establishment of an "online social insurance personal service window" to directly accept the participation of mobile workers, which not only simplifies the procedures, but also provides a full range of services without leaving the home.

Third, develop a nationwide social insurance registration and payment record form / card to enable migrant workers to apply for social insurance registration only once, regardless of which city or enterprise, and use this as a basis for continuous recording, continuation, and transfer.

(2) Improving overall planning level through system convergence

Since 1993, the country has implemented a unified pension insurance system. After years of hard work, the scope of overall planning has been continuously expanded, which has basically covered all urban enterprise employees, and the rural endowment insurance system has also begun to be implemented. However, due to uneven economic development in different regions, the scope and level of overall planning are different, which restricts the improvement and development of the social insurance system. Among them, solving the connection between urban and rural insurance systems is an important issue. For example, young migrant workers work in cities. Future urbanization may make them urbanites, but they have already participated in old-age insurance in rural areas, that is, new rural insurance. This brings us to the question of how they enter the urban pension system. If you have previously participated in the new rural insurance and have joined the endowment insurance for urban employees working in the cities after you arrived in the city, you need to connect the two systems. The new rural insurance is in its infancy, and the transfer and continuity measures have just been released. How to link the urban employee pension insurance with the new rural insurance needs to be researched and resolved and formulated supporting policies. This is the need for transfer continuity and the need to resolve the fragmentation of the system. Is the need to improve the overall level.

(3) Enhancing the overall planning level through legislation

Social insurance as an insurance system must also follow the law of large numbers, so that risk sharing can be better implemented.

According to statistics, there are more than 2,000 social security co-ordination units across the country, most of which are county-level co-ordinators. Although the relevant departments announced that 17 provinces have achieved provincial co-ordination, most of them are not in a complete sense, only provincial transfer funds have been established.

The International Symposium on Pension Investment sponsored by the National Council for Social Security Fund was held in Beijing on May 25, 2012.

On December 17, 2012, the World Social Security Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released in Beijing

On October 21, 2019, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security stated at a press conference in the third quarter of 2019 that the fund investment operation and supervision and management were steadily progressing. As of the end of September, 18 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities) and the Social Security Foundation have signed entrusted investment contracts for basic endowment insurance funds, with a total contract value of 966 billion yuan, of which 799.2 billion yuan have been received and investment has begun. ^[19]

In China, pensions have always been a core issue in society. As the total number of elderly people in China continues to increase, the issue of social care for the elderly also affects overall management decisions. According to statistics, China's population aged 60 and over now accounts for 13.26%, and the population aged 65 and over also exceeds the global ageing level of 7%.

At present, there is a phenomenon in the domestic society, that is, while the elderly population is increasing rapidly, the new labor force in the society has not increased significantly. Some studies have analyzed that China's demographic dividend may disappear around 2020. Looking at the developed capital countries around the world, many countries have similar problems. Take Japan as an example. After undergoing a period of doubling development between 1961 and 1970, Japan's overall national strength has been rapidly improved. With the increase of the level of social and economic development and the significant improvement of the level of social medical technology, there has been an unprecedented surge in the local elderly population. Moreover, local authoritative data predict that Japan's aging level may reach 40% after 2020.

In the context of persistently high domestic inflationary pressures, the community's call for pension reform has become more intense in recent years. However, after many years of practical experiments, Chinese-style pension reforms seem to be drifting away, but the reform plan that the people are looking forward to has not been introduced. China's pension reform is currently suffering from five major difficulties:

The dilemma of the dual-track pension system: The domestic dual-track pension system is a historical legacy. Due to the slow progress of reform of institutions and institutions and the many institutional difficulties involved, the old-age insurance system for institutions and institutions in China still follows the system before 1978. After more than 30 years of differentiated development, the dual-track pension system has become the inspiration point of current social contradictions.

Pension dilemma: Some investigators believe that China's pension gap may reach 18.3 trillion in 2013. It is conceivable that, assuming the prediction is true, the current social pension gap will account for 35% of the total domestic GDP. The huge pension gap will certainly affect the state's fiscal expenditure and will also bring huge pressure to fill the state finance.

Pension reserve dilemma: According to statistics, the current size of China's pension reserve is only

In addition to pensions, some countries in Europe and the United States have a well-developed support network to support the elderly. For example, the United States implements indirect fiscal transfers in taxation policies to support the pension system; Germany needs to spend tens of billions of euros each year to support the operation of its huge pension system.

The source of pensions varies from country to country. In the United States, employers and employees each contribute 6.2% of their wage income as taxes, forming a special "social security fund." Of these, 85% is used to pay pensions, and 15% is used to pay other social security funds such as disability pensions and survivors 'orphans' pensions. In France, the basic pension is paid by employers at 8.2% and employees paid at 6.55%; France's funding for survivors' widows and orphans is paid by employers at 5.4% of the employee's income as a difficult family benefit.

The retirement benefits received by retired workers in many countries do not have a fixed amount, depending on the retirement age, annual salary and length of work, and the number of positions held. Sweden's pension is divided into two parts, one is the basic pension income and the other is the "pension supplement", which is unique to Sweden. The "pension supplement" is based on the income status and taxation status before retirement. The longer the working age and the higher the salary, the more "pension supplement" is accumulated, and the more pensions you can receive after retirement. In France, things are different. General employees can receive 50% of their original salary after retirement, while civil servants can calculate 75% of their salary before retirement.

According to a person close to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the "combination of pensions" focuses on changing the mechanism rather than reducing benefits. The reform may require strong financial support to appropriately adjust the salary levels of civil servants and public institution employees to compensate for personal contributions. Increased expenditures maintain the basic living standards of employees before and after the reform.

The State Council recently issued the "Notice on Establishing a Central Adjustment System for Enterprise Employees' Basic Pension Insurance Funds", and decided to establish a central adjustment system for pension insurance funds, which will be implemented from July 1, 2018. The implementation of the central pension adjustment system for pension funds will not increase the burden of payment by enterprises and individuals, nor will it affect the level of treatment of retirees. ^[6]

There is no clear roadmap for the reform of pension insurance

Pension reform has become one of the current hotly debated and expected issues, because it involves everyone's current or potential vital interests. The "dual-track system" formed by history has created the inequity of pensions and has become the hardest bone in reforming income distribution and pension mechanisms. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security stated that the general direction of "combination" of old-age insurance is clear. But how to merge, how to merge, how long it takes and there is still no clear roadmap, and reforms are continuing.

Institutions and Units Unmoved, Combining Downward Tracks, Causes Many Obstacles to Reform

The "Pilot Scheme for the Reform of the Pension Insurance System for the Staff of Public Institutions" adopted the "downward integration" approach to retirees of public institutions, which enlarged the business bill.

From July 1, 2011,

Li Zhong, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, said in response to a question from the Xinhua News Agency that the standard for raising pensions for corporate retirees in 2014 is a comprehensive consideration of the increase in average employee wages, rising prices, pension insurance funds and financial affordability And the pension level of corporate retirees. Although the pension increases year by year, in the view of retired employees of such enterprises, the "gold content" is not high due to the offset of rising prices.

Zhou Tianyong, a professor at the Central Party School, pointed out that China s consumer price index (CPI) has increased moderately, but the daily necessities of meat, eggs, rice, and oil have increased significantly, and these are precisely the main consumption destinations of retirees.

Zhou Tianyong said: "People will certainly applaud for the rise in pensions, but the rise in prices, especially the necessities of life, to some extent offsets the benefits of rising pensions."

Xiong Hui, a professor at the School of Economics and Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, believes that the 10% increase every year reflects the government's emphasis on people's livelihood, but the increase in pensions lacks system-level guarantees, and ordinary people have "no heart", so it is necessary to establish pensions. Normal mechanism of adjustment. "The government must be determined to establish this mechanism as soon as possible." Xiong Hui said, "The adjustment mechanism can select the inflation rate, especially the price increase of the necessities of life, which is closely related to the elderly, as the indicator. The wage level of employees is linked. "

At the same time, the pension gap cannot be ignored. The gap is not only between the retirees of government agencies and enterprises and the retirees of enterprises. The pensions of many state-owned enterprise retirees are also significantly higher than those of non-state-owned enterprises. The larger pension gap also exists between urban and rural residents. The median pension of China's new rural social endowment insurance is 720 yuan per year, while the median pension of urban and other residents' endowment insurance is 1200 yuan per year, which is only 60% of the latter.

Professor Chen Bulei from the School of Economics and Law of Southwest University of Political Science and Law pointed out that China's current statutory endowment insurance system divides different groups of employees, rural residents, urban self-employed individuals, and institutions and institutions according to occupations. Excessive institutional divisions have damaged the endowment insurance system. Fairness and mutual benefit.

With the gradual increase of the pension level and the increase of the ageing, Hu Xiaoyi, deputy minister of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, admitted that the pressure on the fund will increase.

In response to the reform of the pension operating system, Yin Weimin, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, wrote in the "Council Reading of the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Important Issues Concerning Comprehensive Deepening of Reform", stating that under the premise of ensuring current pension distribution and guaranteeing fund security Actively and steadily promote the market and diversified investment and operation of the fund, improve the fund supervision system, and strive to eliminate the risk of depreciation of the fund, realize value preservation and appreciation, and benefit the long-term balance of the fund.

Chu Fuling, director of the Social Security Research Center of the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that pensions are the life-saving money of the people throughout the country. Investment and operation must be prudent. In the process of achieving value-added, "safety and stability" is a prerequisite. At the same time, in order to carry out large-scale investment operations, it is necessary to do a good job in raising the overall level of coordination.

With the aging of the population, the call for reform of the pension system is getting higher and higher, especially the double-track pension system that the public has always been concerned about is widely criticized. In this regard, Zhou Xiaozheng, an associate professor at the Department of Sociology of Renmin University of China, pointed out in an interview with People's Finance and Economics that in order to make substantial progress in the reform of pensions, relevant departments need to issue a reform timetable and cannot delay reforms.

Yao Yudong, director of the Institute of Finance of the People's Bank of China, calculated the following set of data when studying the topic of "super-aging society": after 15 years, the pension gap will reach 4.1 trillion yuan; after 35 years, the gap will be about 6.1 Trillion yuan. In 2050, China will enter an ultra-aging society, with a total elderly population of more than 400 million, and the proportion of people over 60 years of age will exceed 30%, making China the world's most aging country. In this context, it is necessary to vigorously develop pension finance to prevent various risks in old age, provide diversified and multi-level pension financial products, and develop the pension finance industry will be an important financial strategy. ^{[twenty two]}

On December 9, 2015, Chairman of Minsheng Bank, Hong Qi, said at the inaugural meeting of the China Pension Finance 50 Group Forum that it will fully liberalize the pension service market and support various market entities to increase pension services and products by purchasing services and equity cooperation. Supply, which indicates the direction for the development of the national pension industry in the future. ^{[twenty two]}

On April 10, 2019, the "China Pension Actuarial Report 2019-2050" issued by the World Social Security Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences predicted that under the "large caliber" (including financial subsidies), the basic pension insurance fund for urban enterprise employees nationwide The accumulated balance will be exhausted in 2035.

Dong Dengxin, a core member of the China Pension Finance 50 Forum and director of the Institute of Finance and Securities of Wuhan University of Science and Technology: The conclusion that the pension is exhausted by 2035 is a theoretical assumption and a warning signal. It means that if the existing system and model remain unchanged, it is possible that by 2035, China's pension balance will be worn out. ^{[twenty three]}

On April 23, 2019, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Affairs held a press conference for the first quarter of 2019. In response to the statement that the pension insurance fund will be used up in 2035, the Director of the Endowment Insurance Department, Nie Mingxuan, said that with regard to the sustainable development of pension insurance, It attaches great importance to the issue and takes precautions. It has formulated a series of positive, comprehensive and scientific response measures, which can fully guarantee the long-term and full payment of pensions and the healthy and stable operation of the system. ^[3]