CRI听力:Age Pension for Rural Seniors Lags behind

The survey conducted by China's Research Center on Aging indicates that by last year the coverage rate of old-age pensions in rural areas was about 34 percent. And on average, the monthly old-age pension was only 74 yuan or less than 12 US dollars.

The current old-age pension scheme for rural residents was officially put into place nationwide in 2009.

Under the system, pensions are paid with funds from three sources, namely, the accumulated savings from personal pension accounts, government subsidies and community contributions.

Take as an example of the small village of Liuliqu in the western suburbs of Beijing. According to the local social welfare center, about 500 villagers are currently eligible for old-age pensions, and 98 percent of them have joined the pension scheme.

Zhang Shumin is an official from the local social welfare center.

"If a resident joins the pension scheme at the age of 20, according to the current standard in Beijing, he is required to deposit 960 yuan into his personal account each year. And when he turns 60, he will be able to get about 270 yuan each month from his personal account plus a government subsidy of 280 as well as other bonuses. In total he will get about 600 yuan or each month."

But Zhang points out that the village adopted the scheme in 2007, so most residents started making deposits into the pension fund only a few years ago. For those who have already turned 60, the amount they receive will be far less than 600 yuan a month.

"Things are getting more and more expensive these days, so for those who have houses, they have to rent them out to earn an extra income."

Under the current scheme, the monthly government subsidy should be at least 55 yuan for each resident.

Local governments can adjust the amount based on their budget plans. For example, in Beijing, the basic subsidy is 280 yuan, while in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, it is 65 yuan.

Yang Lixiong, Deputy Director of China's Social Security Research Center at Renming University, says the benchmark for the basic subsidy is too low.

"The benchmark should match the development of different regions. For example, in Beijing it wouldn't be of much help if a pensioner only gets 100 yuan per month. While in other regions, the local government may unable to add a penny more to the basic subsidy. Plus, there is no proper adjustment mechanism for the subsidy. How will the government adjust the 55 yuan basic subsidy in the coming years? Based on commodity prices or average income or both? Without an adjustment system, the old-age pension won't be of any help in the years to come."

Yang adds that the key is to define how many inputs the local governments and the central government should each contribute to the pension subsidy.

Currently, the central government is paying the basic subsidies in central and western China, while covering 50 percent of the fees in eastern China.

By the end of last year, more than 60 percent of China's counties had implemented the scheme.

The program is expected to cover all rural areas by the end of this year.

For CRI, I'm Zhao Yang.