On 7 June 2017, State Secretary Yasmin Fahimi welcomed a delegation from China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MOHRSS) to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. Vice Minister You was particularly interested in Germany’s system for provision for old-age.
Germany’s statutory pension insurance system has proven itself for more than 125 years. Given how the world of work is changing and how demographic trends are developing, we must make sure that the financial foundations of the system are fit for the future. One important element of this, for example, is increasing the number of persons in employment requiring compulsory social insurance payments. One way to achieve this is to raise the level female labour force participation
, said State Secretary Fahimi. Vice Minister You was particularly interested in the pay-as-you-go and tax-based financing of the old-age pensions and in which flexible solutions are being discussed in Germany with regard to the labour market and social security.
Due to demographic trends and an aging society, reforms of the social security systems are currently being discussed in China. The national social insurance legislation introduced in 2011 is the basis for the harmonisation of urban and rural social insurance systems. This was the first time that framework legislation had been introduced at the national level to regulate the structure of the five traditional social insurance systems for old age, illnesses, accidents at work, unemployment and maternity. The MoHRSS is responsible for all these branches of social insurance.