Building a new socialist countryside is the party's strategic decision to promote rural construction in the new period, and it is also the cornerstone to realize a well-off society in an all-round way and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Building a new socialist countryside is not only the inevitable requirement of fully implementing Scientific Outlook on Development, but also the inevitable requirement of building a well-off society in an all-round way, and the only way to build a harmonious socialist society.
To promote the construction of new socialist countryside, we must grasp the main aspects of the main contradictions and contradictions, take production development and well-off life as the main contradictions, and take well-off life as the main aspects of contradictions. With the complete cancellation of agricultural tax and the implementation of other policies to support agriculture, the problem of agricultural production development has been basically solved. Well-off life is a problem that farmers have been longing for but have not completely solved.
At the end of 2004, there were 2,665,438+million people living in absolute poverty in rural areas and 49.77 million people with low income barely solved the problem of food and clothing, which shows that a considerable number of rural residents in China are still in a relatively difficult state, which is one of them. Secondly, it is difficult and expensive for farmers to see a doctor. The new rural cooperative medical system in the pilot only covers about 20% of the population, and the financing level is low. Third, at present, there are more than 80 million elderly people over 60 years old in rural areas of China, accounting for more than 10% of the agricultural population. According to internationally accepted standards, rural areas in China have entered an aging society. However, the miniaturization of rural family structure and the heavy burden of family pension have affected the affluence of life to some extent.
At present, China's rural social security system is generally in a transitional stage, mainly including three aspects:
The first is rural social relief. It is mainly that the state takes emergency measures according to the sudden characteristics of disasters. In treating poor households, the state helps to develop production by setting up poverty alleviation funds. At the same time, in order to solve the living problems of the poor, some areas have started the pilot work of the minimum living security system. However, the development of the rural minimum living security system is uneven throughout the country. For example, Beijing, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Fujian, Liaoning and other economically developed provinces and cities have fully implemented the rural minimum living security system. Although other provinces have also implemented the rural minimum living security system in some areas, it has not been fully implemented. According to relevant statistics, in 2004, the total number of people enjoying the minimum living guarantee in rural areas of China was 4.88 million, which was less than 3% of the total population that needed to be guaranteed.
The second is the five-guarantee system. This is a basic system of rural social security, which has been confirmed by laws and regulations in the Regulations on Rural Five Guarantees. By the end of 2003, the actual number of people supporting the Five Guarantees nationwide was 2.545 million, and there were 24,000 nursing homes, with 503,000 people supporting the Five Guarantees. Judging from the degree of security, the average annual payment of five guarantees for the elderly with five guarantees is 1.200 yuan, but due to the lack of financial resources in various places, the actual amount is generally only about 800 yuan.
Third, an insurance system based on endowment insurance and supplemented by medical insurance. As early as around 1986, rural endowment insurance was piloted in various places. At present, this work has been basically carried out throughout the country. Due to social and institutional reasons, the financial guarantee is not perfect. After several ups and downs, after several stages of pilot, comprehensive promotion and standardization, it is now in the pilot stage. By the end of 2003, the number of rural endowment insurance participants in China was 54.28 million. The accumulated balance of rural endowment insurance fund is 2 1.6 1 100 million yuan. 654.38+0.98 million farmers receive pensions. Its overall coverage rate is less than 10%.
In terms of rural medical insurance, the new rural cooperative medical system, which is being piloted, only covers about 20% of the population, and its financing level is not high and its guarantee ability is not strong. According to the results of the third national health service survey organized by the Ministry of Health in 2003, at present, 79. 1% of the rural population have no medical security and basically rely on their own expenses to see a doctor. In some areas, rural residents who are poor or return to poverty due to illness account for 2/3 of the poor population.
At present, the social security system in most rural areas of China is in a state of absence. In the vast rural areas, farmers' social security is still mainly based on state relief and rural collective welfare, with family security as the main body. Except for the reform of endowment insurance and medical insurance, other insurance projects have basically not been established.
Second, the main problems in the construction of rural social security mechanism in China
(A) the lack of supervision and guarantee mechanism, the design of the legal system is not perfect
China's Constitution stipulates social security in principle, which is reflected in Article 45: "The people and citizens of China have the right to get material help from the state and society in case of old age, illness or incapacity to work. The state develops social security, social relief and medical and health undertakings that citizens need to enjoy these rights. " Article 9 of the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which China has acceded, also clearly stipulates: "All States parties to this Covenant recognize that everyone has the right to social security, including social insurance".
However, China's Social Security Law has not yet been formulated, and there is a lack of special laws to regulate the social security system. The lack of law leads to the imperfection of rural social security mechanism, which brings a series of problems such as unstable source of security funds, irregular management of security funds and construction of security system.
As far as the vast rural areas are concerned, the existing rural social security legislation can be said to be blank. The current legal basis is mostly quasi-laws and related documents, and there are no clear legal norms on the status and role of rural social security, the rights and obligations of security, and the construction of security institutions. Due to system defects and ineffective implementation, farmers lack trust in the benefits of social security.
(B) Without a stable financing mechanism, rural social security funds are unstable.
Comparing China's central government's expenditure on social security with other countries in the world, we know that China's investment is very small: 39% in Canada, 37% in Japan and 35% in Australia, while China's is only about 10%, and this 10% investment is basically given to urban residents. The most prominent problem facing rural social security can be said to be insufficient funds.
It should be said that it is the responsibility of the government to establish a social security system in rural areas. In economically developed areas, local governments have sufficient financial resources to arrange pension and medical insurance, and farmers have more opportunities to get part-time jobs, so their income is relatively ideal. But in the vast underdeveloped areas, due to economic backwardness, many places rely on food finance. Even if there is a slight surplus, local governments are more inclined to invest in areas with quick results when arranging financial funds to attract foreign investment, rather than investing financial funds in social security.
Therefore, at present, there are few social security projects in rural areas, most of which are relief projects, while most major projects such as work injury, maternity and pension are not fully carried out, and even if they are involved in some places, there are problems of irregular operation. In recent years, the per capita income growth of farmers has slowed down. After deducting the necessary production and living expenses, most farmers are actually unable to bear all kinds of insurance expenses. Even if some farmers have the ability to pay, they are unwilling to participate in the insurance because of unclear understanding of the social insurance system and other factors. From the part of collective input. Most county and township governments are fiscal expenditures and have no ability to solve this thorny problem. This has led to the instability of farmers' social security fund.
At the same time, the social security level in rural areas is relatively low. For example, farmers can freely choose to pay for the basic scheme of rural social endowment insurance at county level in a certain place. Because of the low income level, many people choose the lowest monthly 2 yuan. In this way, regardless of inflation, farmers can only get less than 5 yuan every month after paying l0 years, and they can only get l0 yuan after paying 15 years. Such an arrangement of pension system does not play much role in solving the problem of farmers' pension.
(C) the evaluation and management mechanism is not perfect, and the management level of rural social security funds is low.
At present, China's rural social security is managed by civil affairs departments (social assistance), health departments (rural cooperative medical care) and social security departments (endowment insurance). Due to the lack of unified management institutions and clear laws and regulations, many institutions, such as civil affairs departments, family planning commissions, foundations and life insurance companies, participate in rural social security funds all over the country. In some places, there are cases of mutual wrangling, misappropriation, improper entrustment or fund preservation and appreciation. Some local funds management is not standardized, and even some local governments use the convenience of managing funds to misappropriate funds, resulting in waste of resources and irregular management.