A campaign aiming to provide monthly pension insurance to rural residents and unemployed citizens over 60 is underway. But simply getting people money isn’t everything.
Yin Weimin, Minister of HR and Social Security Ministry, said, "We must ensure that the new pension insurance system covers all rural residents and unemployed citizens by the end of this year. But we may face difficulties in different regions due to the country’s unbalanced development. In some remote areas, it is not easy to count the numbers of elderly. And the quality of some local facilities is also a major hurdle."
Lin Hongmei, Deputy Head of Huangxian Village, said, "Rural Chinese citizens have to pay 100 to 500 yuan each year for the next 15 years to collect monthly pensions down the road. But the money cannot be touched during those 15 years. So some residents see the risk of investment balanced out by the chance for far greater rewards. This makes the pension plan much less desirable."