The Development of China's Urban Social Security System, 1949–1988

In: East Asia

Abstract

This study examines the records of urban social security in China between 1949 and 1988 to test the applicability of the popular theory on social security development, thereby elucidating the impact of a country's politics on the modification of the design, operation, and transformation of its social security. This study complements existing theories and questions regarding the correlation between industrialisation and the development of social security and tests the utility of popular theories of social security development for understanding the Chinese case. In order to conduct cross-period comparison and identify the changes in China's urban social security, the study period—namely, 1949 to 1988—is divided according to changes in the doctrine of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Focusing on the emergence of and modifications to China's social security system before its reform in 1988, this study identifies the structural features and philosophy of its institutional design and analyses its development using statistical data. More specifically, this study reveals how changes in the doctrine of the CCP decisively impacted the development of China's urban social security. In doing so, this study demonstrates a new means of predicting a country's social security development.