Suchergebnisse

As part of its plan to establish a harmonious society, the Chinese Communist Party has resolved to establish by 2020 a social security system covering both urban and rural populations. A common assumption is that the integrated system would provide to the whole population the same high level of protection that a section of the urban population currently enjoys. This article will provide an overview of the current situation and consider the prospects for the establishment of such a system by 2020. The aim is ambitious and the time available for achieving the target is very limited. However, two of the principal pre-conditions for achieving the target are present. First, there has been a dramatic improvement in public finances and the trend looks likely to continue. The implication is that the government would be increasingly capable of covering the extra cost of setting up an integrated social security system. Second, the leadership is strongly committed to establishing such a system. Yet a seamless and fully operational system is highly unlikely. (China Perspect/GIGA)

Recent years have seen a marked shift away from single-minded emphasis on economic growth toward the development of a 'harmonious society.' Progress in improving China's social security system probably will be much quicker over the next 20 years than in the previous 20, but reform will still be piecemeal.

The aim of this paper is to chart the demographic transition in China, identify its proximate causes and analyze its socioeconomic implications with reference to, first, the proportion and composition of the dependent population, second, the age structure of the labor force and, third, the size and composition of households. Defined as a steady deceleration in population growth to a nonrising total, the onset of the demographic transition in 1970 predates the one-child policy. Thus far the transition has had its largest impact on the proportion of children in the population, which has fallen. Next in magnitude is a rise of in the share of working-age adults. (DSE/DÜI)