United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Working Group on Ageing Social Assistance in China main challenges for the policy design and implementation Marzena Breza, PhD EU Resident Expert EU-China Social Protection Reform Project Geneva, Nov 19 th -20 th, 2015 Presentation is under the sole responsibility of its author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or the Consortium of the EU-China Social Protection Reform Project.
China as a transition economy The government gradually developed new social assistance schemes and increased financial investment to establish a basic policy framework of social assistance that adapts to the system of market economy. Baseline report, C3 EU-China SPRP, 2015
Challenges for China socio-economic aspects From central planning to market economy Ageing population Increase of Social Assistance spending Increase in number of Social Assistance recipients Regional (province) disparities in development and wellbeing of the citizens Urban-rural gap (income, social infrastructure facilities, labour market demand, ect.) Social Assistance organization legal provisions
Social Assistance Benefits - Introduction Benefits in kind Benefits in cash Eligibility income/assets test Dibao Beneficiaries 5% (70 milion) of the total population Different benefits levels for urban and rural areas Differentiations between provinces: 500 RMB (70 euro) e.g. Shanghai, Beijing 200 RMB (29 euro) e.g. Henan, Sichuan Target group vs. Low rate of the benefits
Social Assistance Benefits (1) Minimum Livelihood Guarantee Dibao benefit in cash (as a pilot project introduced in early 90s in Shanghai) from 1999 in cities and from 2007 in rural areas The MLGS is an income supplementary assistance system, which makes sure that the income of the population in poverty can be kept at a certain level (Dibao line), so that they have the capacity to purchase basic living consumables (1 st assessment report, C3 EU-China SPRP, 2015) Urban Rural
Social Assistance Benefits (2) Five guarantee (in rural areas) since 1950s for food, fuel, clothing, education and burial. Medical Assistance Temporary Assistance Disaster Assistance Others
Table 1. Expenditures of urban & rural MLGS (RMB) Local financial expenditure Central financial subsidy Year Total expenditure (100 Amount Amount million) Proportion (%) Proportion (%) (100 million) (100 million) 1999 13.8 9.8 71% 4 28.9% 2000 25.6 17.6 69% 8 31% 2001 46.3 23.3 50% 23 50% 2002 115.8 69.8 60% 46 40% 2003 162.4 70.4 43% 92 57% 2004 188.9 86.9 46% 102 54% 2005 191.5 105.2 48% 112 52% 2006 267.6 131.6 49% 136 51% 2007 386.4 196.4 51% 190 49% 2008 622.1 266.1 43% 356 57% 2009 845.1 304.3 36% 540.8 64% 2010 969.7 335.1 36.7% 634.6 63.3% 2011 1327.6 323.0 24.3% 1004.6 75.7% 2012 1392.3 521.8 37.5% 870.5 62.4% 2013 1623.6 455.7 29.1% 1167.9 71.9% 2014 1592.0 570.6 35.9% 1021.4 64.1% Data source: Annual China Social Service Development Report (various years) and internal data from Ministry of Civil Affairs. 1 st assessment report, C3 EU-China SPRP, 2015
Figure 1. Number of Urban and Rural MLGS recipients Source: Ministry of Civil Affairs, China Civil Affairs' Statistical Yearbook, 2014 1 st assessment report, C3 EU-China SPRP, 2015
Figure 2. Average Dibao received by eligible households and minimum living standard in urban areas, by province, 2013 Data source: Annual China Social Service Development Report (various years) and internal data from Ministry of Civil Affairs. 1 st assessment report, C3 EU-China SPRP, 2015
Figure 3. Total Expenditures for Medical Assistance 25000 21625.021 0.05% GDP 20000 15776.23 Million Yuan 15000 10000 12813.7 5000 0 2009 2010 2011 Sources: China Civil Affairs Statistical Yearbook 2012, Finance Yearbook of China 2012 1 st assessment report, C3 EU-China SPRP, 2015 Year
Figure 4. National Expenditures for Disaster relief 70000 Million Yuan 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 35781.879 34714.85 60980.837 19919.08 23718.3 Less than 0.1% GDP 10000 4065.401 4001.205 5294.9 6257.977 7900.9 7984.0 12870.262 0 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Year Source: China Civil Affairs Statistical Yearbook 2012 1 st assessment report, C3 EU-China SPRP, 2015
Figure 5. Expenditures for Temporary Assistance 9000 8000 8415.099 0.032% GDP 7000 6000 Million Yuan 5000 4000 3405.845 5009.254 3000 2000 1802.436 1603.409 1000 0 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Year Sources:China Civil Affairs Statistical Yearbook 2012 1 st assessment report, C3 EU-China SPRP, 2015
Legal provisions on Social Assistance in China Interim Measures for Social Assistance (2014) - the highest level of authority document Several other notices, legal acts established on provincial or city level Lack of one comprehensive legal act on Social Assistance in China
To be further developed General Social Assistance Law Sharing responsibilities/information/supervision central, province, local level State Owned Enterprices vs. Social Assistance demand Professional knowledge and skills of social assistance workers Cooperation with NGOs Social Assistance Dependency Social Assistance Benefits overlapping issue
EU-China SPRP Main goal: to exchange the best practices in the social assistance between the EU and China EU partners public authorities from BE, CZ, FR, IT, PL, RO and ES. CN main Stakeholders: NDRC, MoF, MoCA Project implementation period Nov 2014 - Nov 2018
EU-China SPRP cooperation opportunities Exchange practices and experiences by EU experts in China Involvement in the activities held in Europe for Chinese stakeholders Sharing knowledge and other kind of contribution on working level
Contact details: Marzena Breza marzena.breza@eucsprp.org THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION