Full Text: Equality, Development and Sharing: Progress of Women's Cause in 70 Years Since New China's Founding
VII. Social Security for Women Continues to Improve
China sticks to ensuring and improving women's livelihood in the course of pursing development. China works to develop a sustainable multi-tiered social security system that covers the entire population in both urban and rural areas, with clearly defined rights and responsibilities, and support that hits the right level. China will work to see that everyone has access to social security, medical services, elderly care, and social assistance. With social security institutionalized, Chinese women have an ever-stronger sense of fulfillment, happiness and security.
The level of maternity protection for women has increased significantly. China has actively developed a maternity protection system to safeguard women's reproductive rights and interests. From 1949 to 1992, China issued labor insurance regulations, policies of free medical services and regulations on maternity leave for women workers, stating that women who give birth enjoy maternity leave, maternity benefits, childbirth allowances, reimbursement for medical expenses and other services. In 1994, China introduced the Trial Measures for Maternity Insurance for Enterprise Employees which stipulated the financing and treatment of maternity insurance and marked the comprehensive implementation of maternity insurance system for urban employees. The Social Insurance Law of the People's Republic of China, promulgated in 2010, has a separate chapter for maternity insurance, turning departmental regulations to national laws and providing a legal basis for safeguarding women's reproductive rights and interests. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the system of maternity protection has been constantly improved. In 2019, China issued a guideline to combine maternity insurance with basic medical insurance for employees, requiring the integration of the two insurance funds and management resources to ensure that maternity insurance benefits for employees remain sustainable and unchanged during the childbearing, which will help to expand the coverage of maternity insurance and benefit more women who give birth. In 2018, the number of people participating in maternity insurance reached more than 200 million and the number of women was 89.27 million (see Chart 6). Women who participate in basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents enjoy reimbursement for medical expenses for childbirth, and the reproductive rights and interests of unemployed women are protected. China has extended statutory maternity leave from 90 days to 98 days. Relevant laws and regulations have been adjusted gradually in various places and childbirth incentive leave and spouse care leave have also been set up. Some local authorities have explicated provisions on relevant allowance and benefits.
The medical security system for women is fully in place. When New China was founded, a medical security system was established, with government units and public institutions implementing free medical care, enterprises carrying out labor-insurance medical care, and rural areas launching cooperative medical care relying on the collective economy. Women enjoyed different levels of basic medical security. Over the past four decades since the launch of reform and opening up, China has gradually established and improved a basic medical insurance system for workers, a new rural cooperative medical care system and a basic medical insurance system for urban residents. A basic medical insurance system for urban and rural women has been fully implemented. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the multi-level medical security system has been further improved. In 2016, the medical insurance system for urban and rural residents was consolidated and the fairness of the system was enhanced. The urban and rural medical assistance and supplementary medical insurance system were improved, allowing more women to enjoy equitable medical security. According to incomplete statistics, the number of women under basic health insurance around the country in 2018 was approximately 540 million.
The level of old-age security for women has been significantly improved. China has established and continuously improved an endowment insurance system for the urban working group. Since the launch of reform and opening up, China has accelerated the construction of endowment insurance system for non-working urban residents and vigorously promoted a new social endowment insurance system for rural residents. The number of insured women and the level of their treatment have increased step by step. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the old-age insurance system has been further improved. In 2014, the new social endowment social security system for rural residents and the social endowment insurance system for non-working urban residents were unified into the basic endowment insurance system for rural and non-working urban residents, making it possible for urban and rural unemployed women to enjoy basic old-age security on an equal footing. In 2017, nearly 380 million women around the country participated in basic old-age insurance. By the end of 2018, a subsidy system for the elderly with financial difficulties resulting from aging and disability was generally established throughout the country. Elderly women's living standards are basically guaranteed.
The number of women participating in unemployment insurance and workers' compensation insurance has been increasing. China attaches great importance to the employment and insurance rights and interests of workers to ensure their employment, safety and health. China has implemented the unemployment relief system, the unemployment insurance system in state-owned enterprises, the basic living security system for laid-off workers, and the current unemployment insurance system, generally protecting women who are relatively disadvantaged in employment. In 2017, 79.5 million women around the nation participated in unemployment insurance, and the number of women participating in the work-related injury insurance stood at 85.94 million, an increase of 39.24 million and 55.81 million over 2005, respectively.
The national social assistance system benefits women in need. China has established and gradually improved a social assistance system to provide basic living security for women in need. From natural disaster relief, urban unit security, rural collective assistance and rural "Five Guarantees" in the planned economy period to the minimum living security, relief support for the extremely poor and the temporary assistance system established in the 1990s, women can enjoy equal rights. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the social assistance system has been gradually improved, effectively enabling women in need to share the fruits of reform and development. By the end of 2018, women accounted for 44.8% of the people who have subsistence allowance in urban areas and 42.0% of those in rural areas.