Economically Involved, Socially Excluded: The Case of Old Age Survivors in Transitional China Pei Xiaomei, Ph.D Tsinghua University Gerontology Center Beijing, P. R. China

Gender Difference in Old Aged Security MaleFemale Pension Coverage87%55.1% Average Monthly Income (RMB) Med. Insurance72.9%49.8% Source: China Research Center on Ageing, Data analysis of the Sampling of Survey of the Aged Population in China,2003.

Gender Difference in Income among Urban Elderly Monthly incomeaged womenaged men ____________________________________________________ No income7.4%19.6% Less than _____________________________________________________ Source: China Research Center on Ageing, Data analysis of the Sampling of Survey of the Aged Population in China,2003.

The Questions Among urban aged in China, women are much more likely to be excluded from the social security programs than men. Who are these women? As women’s labor participation rate has been high (78.3%), why some of them are not qualified for pension benefits? Some women are economically employed but socially excluded, what happened that drove them into this disadvantageous reality?

Methods By interviewing 26 old age survivors aged ranging from 54 to 91 in two cities in China about their living conditions and life histories, we generated some valuable information about the life trajectories of these old women and how their life experience is shaped by the market and state.

Informal Employment and No Pension More than half of the group was found to have a history of being employed for paid work. Some of them had been in and out of labor market frequently in informal positions for family responsibilities or as low-cost reserved labor force and was kept away from a status of retiree and access to social security income.

Gender Difference by Type of Employment Employment TypeMale (%)Female (%) ____________________________________________________ Formal Employment Informal Employment __________________________________________________ Total100%100% __________________________________________________ Source: National Survey on women’s Status by China Women’s Federation, 2000.

Gender Difference in Social Security Coverage by Types of Employment Employmentcovered by pensioncovered by med. Ins.(%) Type malefemalemalefemale Formal Informal ____________________________________________________ Source: National Survey on women’s Status by China Women’s Federation, 2000.

The Myth of Family Support The assumption of the availability of family support for those elderly persons who are excluded from current social security programs often serves as a political excuse for not including old age survivors into the old age security. It is reasonable to question the effectiveness of this traditional system to address the contemporary needs of the aged Chinese.

Composition of Financial Support for the Urban Chinese Aged (%) FemaleMale ____________________________________________________ Pension Family Social Insurance Paid Economic Activities Poverty Relief Feeling of financially unsafe31.6%17.2% ____________________________________________________ Source: China Research Center on Ageing, Data analysis of the Sampling of Survey of the Aged Population in China,2003.

The Role of the State in Constructing the Lives of the Old Age Survivors The status of these old age survivors are both historically and socially constructed. From a life course perspective, the difficult conditions into which they fall should be viewed as a consequence of a process of disadvantage accumulation. One could find a pattern of systematically disadvantaged over their life course.

Accumulation of Institutional Disadvantage  The division of labor under the state socialism  Old age security in the form of corporation welfare  The pension reform during the economic transition

Conclusion The disadvantaged condition of many old age survivors at present has been shaped and perpetuated by the state policies at various stages of their lives. As China is typical of a state dominant society, a fundamental improvement of the lives of the aged survivors is also expected through the change of the state policies from relief provision to entitlement provision.

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