Chapter 60 Chapter 58 Pension Insurance Reform: Addition or Subtraction

The reform of the endowment insurance system of public institutions, focusing on solving the problem of system injustice, is the starting point of the reform. In February 2009, Teacher Wang, who was teaching at a university in Beijing, was about to retire. She was worried that after the pension insurance reform in public institutions, her pension would be lower than when she retired now, so she went to the school's personnel department to ask if she could retire early. "This pilot reform of the pension insurance system in public institutions, although Beijing is not included, reform is a matter of time, so it is better to retire quickly." Teacher Wang told reporters bluntly, "I am really worried that pensions will drop sharply after the reform, which will affect own quality of life."

According to previous regulations, if Mr. Wang, who has 31 years of teaching experience, retires this year, his monthly pension will be 90% of his original salary, and his monthly income will be about 5,000 yuan.And according to the rumored public institution pension insurance reform plan, her pension is still unknown. In February 2009, the content of the pilot plan for the reform of the old-age insurance system for staff in public institutions aroused heated discussions; the five pilot provinces and cities of Shanxi, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Chongqing are also stepping up the pilot work.

The interviewed experts believe that the reform of the pension insurance system of public institutions involves many people and is highly policy-oriented, which brings about a strong collision of various interest concepts, which is really reasonable.However, due to the long-standing problem of system injustice, considerable energy has been accumulated. If it is not properly resolved in the pilot project, it will easily cause antagonism and intensification of conflicts between social groups, and it should be highly valued. According to the disclosure, the pilot program requires some public institutions to carry out reforms with reference to the enterprise employee security system.In recent years, the income gap between government agencies, public institutions and retired employees of enterprises has been expanding.The latest data show that the average monthly pension for retired enterprise employees across the country is still only 1,080 yuan, which is far below the level of government agencies and institutions.

"Using public institutions as the breakthrough point of reform, the interests of these people are easily damaged, and the resistance to reform can be imagined." Professor Qi Shanhong, a doctoral supervisor at Nankai University, said in an interview with reporters, "When the economy is developing well, the public is concerned about the The reform of self-interest is relatively strong. Under the background of the current global financial crisis and the slowdown of domestic economic development, such reforms will definitely cause huge psychological pressure on those who have not yet retired.”

The reporter learned that with the advancement of the pilot work, some public institutions in Beijing who are about to retire have also gone to relevant departments to inquire about early retirement.Unlike those who are about to retire, young people seem relatively calm about this pension reform. "I have only worked for two years, and I am still far away from retirement. As for the increase or decrease of pension insurance, I don't care that much." Xiao Zhang, a doctor at Beijing Xuanwu Hospital, told reporters, "When I retire, the social security system should It's complete and sound, and I'm confident of that."

Many interviewees believed that the reform pilot program should seek opinions from the society.Because this reform involves the vital interests of the public, if it is not recognized by all sectors of society or the timing of its introduction is not suitable, the final effect will be greatly reduced and sequelae will easily occur, which will add a lot of resistance to a more comprehensive and in-depth reform of the pension insurance system. Judging from the survey results, the reform of the pension insurance system of public institutions has received wide attention, which is due to a problem that actually affects the fairness of the system - the coverage of the system reform is not comprehensive, and all groups that affect the fairness of the system have not been included in the reform. .

It stands to reason that promoting the reform of pension insurance for staff in public institutions will help break the long-standing irrational division of the social security system and the "fragmentation" of doing things their own way.One of the focal points that caused many doubts is that the architects of this reform—civil servants themselves failed to become the target of the reform, which caused the public to have doubts about the fairness that the reform can achieve. The reform of the endowment insurance system of public institutions should not only reduce the financial burden, but also reflect the fairness of the system design - as the decision-makers of the reform, civil servants should not be excluded from the reform.Even if the reform must start with public institutions and eventually include civil servants, there should be a detailed reform timetable.

"If we want to fundamentally eliminate the resistance to reform, we must include civil servants." A resident surnamed Zhang in Chengcheng Hutong, Xuanwu District, Beijing believes that "civil servants are also reform planners and referees of reform results. If you do it, you have to set an example. Excluding civil servants from the reform of the pension insurance system is obviously not in line with the principle of fairness.” "Civil servants should be allowed to participate in the reform together. Civil servants lead by example, can win the trust of the people, reduce social resistance, and win the support of the whole society. Anyway, the reform of civil servant pension insurance will be carried out sooner or later. Otherwise, new contradictions and injustice will form. The new fragments of the social security system are not conducive to social harmony." Zheng Bingwen, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and an expert on social security issues, said.

"If the design of my country's endowment insurance system is unreasonable and the reform is difficult to achieve in one step, such reform may become a long game." Qi Shanhong believes, "This is not only for the reform itself, but also for the realization of system fairness. In terms of urgency, the social cost will be greater.” "The civil servant pension system should also be included in the reform process, and explore the establishment of a civil servant pension insurance system." Professor Gong Weibin of the National School of Administration said in an interview with reporters, "This will not only help promote the fairness of the social security system, but also help Reduce the resistance to the reform of the pension insurance system of public institutions, and promote the establishment and improvement of the social pension insurance system as a whole. At the same time, it is conducive to improving the social image of civil servants."

Many interviewed experts believe that the injustice of my country's pension insurance system has existed for many years.This kind of injustice is not so much caused by social differences, but rather discriminatory factors in society, leading to serious deviations in system design. In the early 1990s, my country implemented a "dual-track system" for retired employees, and the income gap between government agencies and institutions and retired employees of enterprises gradually widened.Such injustice has not been changed by the reform of the enterprise pension insurance system in recent years.

In 1993, the enterprise employee pension insurance implemented the principle of combining social pooling and personal accounts. In 1997, the payment ratio of enterprises and individuals was unified and standardized nationwide, and the basic pension insurance system for enterprise employees was unified. The payment ratio of enterprises generally does not exceed 20% of the total salary, and the payment ratio of individuals gradually reaches 8% of their salary. Experts interviewed believe that the phenomenon of “unfair pensions” exists in my country at present, and the problem lies in the design of the current system—the pensions for employees of government agencies or institutions are allocated by the government, while the pension insurance for enterprise employees is funded by social pooling and individual funds. The method of combining accounts is jointly borne by enterprises and employees. At present, there are many problems in my country's urban enterprise employee pension insurance system.On the one hand, there is a lack of proper standardized financial support.On the other hand, many enterprises did not submit funds in full and in a timely manner as required.For example, there are serious historical debts and huge fund gaps; the pension insurance payment base is not uniform, and some enterprises have a small payment base; there are even arrears, refusal of insurance, and difficulties in collecting pension insurance premiums. "The basic design of my country's pension insurance system is divided into four parts: civil servants, public institutions, enterprises, and farmers, resulting in different levels of pension distribution." Yin Yungong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed to reporters, "Because civil servants hold real power, so in Pension sharing benefits the most. Public institutions generally control certain resources, so most of them are better than enterprises and lower than civil servants. This distribution structure divides social members into ranks, so the pension system has There are unreasonable elements." The interviewed experts generally believe that a fair old-age security system should have no differences in status. Whether it is a civil servant or a public institution employee, or an enterprise employee or a freelancer, everyone bears the same self-payment ratio, and they can pay when it expires. Enjoy equal social pension standards. In the view of relevant experts, the reasonable direction for the reform of my country's social pension insurance system is to establish and improve the pension insurance system that integrates urban and rural areas, consider "a game of chess across the country", do a good job of "addition" to the reform, and gradually improve the pension standards for enterprise employees. Aligned to a higher standard. "The establishment and improvement of the pension insurance system for public institutions and civil servants must have a sense of urgency and responsibility. We must pay close attention to research and pilot projects, and advance this work as a whole, sooner rather than later." Gong Weibin believes that "the reform of the pension insurance system is the starting point , actively promote the reform of government agencies and institutions, and create favorable conditions for the reform of the pension insurance system. The starting point and target positioning of the reform must be appropriate and accurate, and the lessons that have emerged in the reform of the pension insurance system for urban employees must be absorbed. Assume more responsibilities. It is necessary to strengthen the publicity and explanation work for the staff of government agencies and institutions, so that everyone can establish a correct concept of old-age care, establish the concept that the rights and obligations of social insurance are consistent, and do a good job in the connection between the old and new systems, taking into account the Pension insurance rights and actual benefits of different age groups." "Individual departments or a small number of people take the plan and conduct a large-scale pilot. The reform effect is not as good as that of widely soliciting opinions and then taking tentative steps." Qi Shanhong believes, "There are two ways to break the current deadlock in pension insurance reform. The first First, include civil servants in the reform system, and adjust them to the enterprise level just like employees of public institutions. Second, raise the pensions of enterprise employees to the level of employees of public institutions. The benefits of the former are that it can reduce resistance to reform and reduce financial burdens. The latter is in line with the logical direction of reform.” "Endowment insurance, also known as annuity insurance, is a kind of social security that the state stipulates that workers withdraw from the labor field and receive living expenses on a regular basis when they lose their ability to work due to old age or sickness, according to the national physique and labor resource conditions. The system has basic attributes such as sociality, compulsion, mutual aid, welfare and compensation.” Du Liyuan, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongsheng Law Firm, said in an interview with reporters, “The reasonable direction for the reform of the pension insurance system should be to increase For the protection of enterprise employees and farmers, adjust the differences in pension insurance benefits among civil servants, public institution employees, and enterprise employees, establish a sound social pension security system to reflect social fairness, and strengthen the government's responsibility for social overall planning and nationalization. " "The reform of the endowment insurance system of public institutions should adopt a 'linkage' approach, linking participation in the basic insurance reform and the establishment of occupational annuities to reduce resistance." Completely designed at one time, to give everyone a reassurance and eliminate the doubts about lowering the level of treatment. Secondly, the three types of "linkages" of public institutions engaged in public welfare, administrative functions and production and operation activities should be reformed together, not in order .Third, 'linkage' between public institutions and civil servants." "The scope of pension reform should cover all members of society, and the reform method should be based on benefiting all the people, acknowledging differences." Yin Yungong suggested, "Pension reform should do a good job of 'addition', and at the same time do some supporting institutional reforms. , such as completely marketizing various societies, associations, cultural and sports departments, guest houses, cultural publishing, and the logistics departments of government agencies and universities. Because these units do not undertake government functions, but enjoy financial allocations, it is really unfair. This money can be saved Next, it will be used for social security expenditures such as pension insurance.” Many interviewed experts said frankly that some discriminatory systems in the past should be reformed as soon as possible.When the financial crisis strikes, the government and the public need to tide over the difficulties together. Confidence is especially important, but institutional fairness is the only source of lasting confidence.