Gender Differences,Pension Benefits and Retirement Decisions
China has implemented an early and gender-specific legal retirement age,with men retiring at 60,female workers at 50,and female cadres at 55.However,due to the need to alleviate the strain on pension funds,delaying retirement has become inevitable.Nevertheless,many individuals are opposed to this change as it may jeopardize their own pension benefits.Moreover,in China,the interplay of labor market disparities and pension system design leads to the transformation of biological and labor market differences between genders into gender-based variations in pension benefits.Therefore,finding ways to incentivize individuals towards delayed retirement through system design while promoting gender equality in pension benefits is a crucial issue for China's delayed retirement policies.Using the 2020 CFPS microdata and individual micro-simulation methods,this paper comprehensively simulates and compares three types of individual pension benefits:gross social security wealth,net social security wealth,and net present value of retirement.It examines these benefits under both the current system and eight designs of delayed retirement systems.The study determines the optimal retirement age based on four criteria:the accumulative value,gross peak value,net peak value,and option value.Additionally,it analyzes how to incentivize individuals to choose delayed retirement through system design while promoting gender equality in individual pension benefits.The paper also investigates changes in gains and losses of individual pension benefits as well as individual retirement choices in delayed retirement scenarios.Lastly,it analyzes the degree and causes of gender inequality in pension benefits using OAXACA-RIF decomposition method.This study reveals several findings:firstly,the current system exhibits an early retirement incentive,leading individuals to opt for earlier retirement;secondly,compared to alternative delayed retirement systems,the flexible delayed retirement system with laddering incentives and penalties reduces the proportion of individuals from different genders experiencing benefit loss during delayed retirement.Moreover,all individuals within this system can retire at their optimal age.Lastly,there is a notable presence of gender inequality and discrimination in pension benefits under the existing system.In comparison to other designs of delayed retirement systems,the flexible delayed retirement system with laddering incentives and penalties proves more effective in mitigating gender disparities and promoting gender equality in pension benefits.The findings of this paper provide valuable insights for the design of China's delayed retirement system.Firstly,instead of solely increasing the statutory retirement age,it is essential to incorporate incentive measures for delayed retirement into the existing system design.Failing to do so would hinder the modification of retirement incentives provided by the current system design and consequently impede the successful implementation of a delayed retirement system.Secondly,adopting a flexible delayed retirement system with laddering incentives and penalties respects individual choices while safeguarding pension benefits and motivating individuals to opt for delaying their retirement.Thirdly,attention should be given to addressing gender inequality in pension benefits within the design of the delayed retirement system,aiming to reduce disparities and discrimination caused by its structure.
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
维普
