Research On Improvement Of Rural-Urban Migrant Workers’ Endowment Insurance System In Shanghai

It is one of the crucial questions during China’s social transformation to protectrural-urban migrant workers’ rights and interests. Social security right is one of the basicrights for the rural-urban migrant workers, among which the question about theendowment insurance system is the most complicated one. According to the currentsituation, compared with the urban residents, those rural-urban migrant workers who havejoined the endowment insurance system have comparatively lower level and their rightsand interest have been damaged because the pension cannot be continued after their jobschanging. Worse still, there are a lot of rural-urban migrant workers who have not beenprotected by the endowment insurance system. Therefore, it is quite significant to do aresearch on rural-urban migrant workers’ endowment insurance system.The object of this research is rural-urban migrant workers’ endowment insurancesystem in Shanghai. This dissertation begins with a review of its development andachievements. Then, from the perspective of the congruence between supply and demand,a field survey on the system implementing effect has been undertaken during the research,which analyzes the deeper factors restricting the implementing effect. Based on the survey,in order to improve the system and its implementing effect, the dissertation puts forwardsome solutions to three major bottleneck problems concerning rural-urban migrantworkers’ pension continuity, the level and its contribution mode as well as some otherspecific measures for improving the system. The research methods applied in thedissertation include the standardized analysis, the empirical analysis, the qualitative andquantitative analysis.The major conclusions drawn from the research are as follows: firstly,“equity andjustice” theory is the theoretical basis for establishing the rural-urban migrant workers’endowment insurance system. It is supposed that system design is advantageous torural-urban migrant workers. Secondly, the pension’s continuity should depend on different conditions, for example, in the light of European Union’s experiences, when rural-urbanmigrant workers migrate among cities for working, their retirement accounts should becontinued, thus the payment can be divided into certain ratios based on the length of periodfor they has paid the premiums in different cities. When they move from city tocountryside, their individual retirement account (IRA) together with social pooling accountshould be transferred into IRA of rural endowment insurance system, which can reflectsystem’s preference to the vulnerable people. Thirdly, since it is not enough to simply raisethe contribution rate or contribution base for the improvement of treatment level, wideningthe channels of fund-raising could be considered. Fourthly, instead of being paid only bythe employers,“social pooling and individual account” mode can guarantee the continuityof rural-urban migrant workers’ pension accounts and the improvement of their treatmentlevel.The originality of this dissertation lies in: at first, the research demonstrates that the"equity and justice" theory is the theoretical foundation of establishment of rural-urbanmigrant workers’ endowment insurance system, which deepened the theoretical study ofprotection of rural-urban migrant workers’ rights and interests. In addition, the ideas ofsystem design such as “the pension’s continuity should depend on different conditions” and“widening the channel of fund-raising” to improve the treatment of pension system, canfurther develop the current system.Research made for this dissertation will have a positive effect, theoretically andpractically, on solving the problems related to rural-urban migrant worker’s endowmentinsurance, on improving the endowment insurance system in our country, and further onprotecting rural-urban migrant workers’ rights and interests as well as building aharmonious society eventually.