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The rural pension of 163 yuan per month keeps retired Chinese seniors working in manual labor, widening the gap between the poor countryside and cities with much higher benefits today
Chinese seniors over 60 years old, retired, continue to plow, plant, and harvest to sell vegetables and fruits because the rural pension pays 163 yuan per month, an amount insufficient for survival.
Work continues after retirement
In Chinese fields, many retirees continue manual labor after the age of 60. They plant and harvest fruits and vegetables to sell in metropolitan centers hours away from their properties.
Without this extra income, most cannot make ends meet. The situation affects seniors, who are still forced to maintain a heavy routine in the fields to ensure basic money.
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Difference between city and countryside
The basic pension for retirees without formal employment, a group that includes almost all farmers, is 163 yuan, about 119 reais per month.
In cities, retirees from urban companies receive an average of 3,500 yuan, or R$ 2,563.
Among former public employees, the pension is nearly 7,000 yuan, equivalent to R$ 5,124. The difference shows a contrast between the benefits paid to urban workers and those intended for the countryside.
Farmers’ pensions function as defined fiscal support regulated exclusively by the State.
On the other hand, payments to retirees with urban positions also depend on individual contributions and payroll taxes.
Rural workers paid an additional tax until 2006. This tax was abolished, but without compensation in the benefits received after retirement, maintaining the inequality between those who lived in the countryside and those who worked in cities.
Rural pension and precarious life in the countryside
The effect of this difference appears in living standards. While China claims to have eradicated extreme poverty in 2020, defined as living on less than $2.10 a day, social protection remains low in the countryside.
Research by the British magazine The Economist indicates that more than 80% of rural Chinese residents capable of working, between 60 and 80 years old, still engage in physical labor in the fields, even at an advanced age.
Part of the explanation lies in the government’s resistance to creating a universal social welfare system. Doubling the amount paid to retired farmers would consume 3% of the national budget, according to The Economist.
This expenditure would affect infrastructure projects valued by China both within and outside its territory, including the Belt and Road Initiative, treated as a priority by the State.
Political pressure grows in Parliament
Advocates for change say the issue involves justice and historical reparation. Millions of rural residents spent their youth as migrant workers, helping to build part of modern China’s infrastructure.
Others see a wealthier interior as a way to stimulate the internal market by increasing rural consumption, a central point in China’s five-year plan.
The debate gained momentum in Parliament last month. At least 34 representatives presented separate proposals, resulting in an increase of 20 yuan, about 14 reais, per month.
Even with the adjustment, the topic remains sensitive. Chinese academics who write essays on rural difficulties and advocate for better conditions continue to be ridiculed and highly criticized.
With information from Exame.
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