城乡居民基本养老保险一体化改革对居民主观福利的影响——基于CHARLS数据的实证分析

The Effect of the Basic Pension Schemes Integration on Individuals’ Subjective Wellbeing:Evidence from the CHARLS Data

2014年以来,中国实施了城乡居民基本养老保险一体化改革,促进了基本养老保障体系的城乡均等化,为增强人民群众的获得感、幸福感与安全感,实现物质文明和精神文明相协调的中国式现代化奠定了基础。文章利用2011~2018年中国健康与养老追踪调查(CHARLS)数据,使用多期双重差分方法考察了城乡居民基本养老保险一体化改革对居民主观福利的影响。研究发现,城乡居民基本养老保险一体化改革显著改善了居民的主观福利水平,使其生活满意度提高了0.064,抑郁指数降低了0.420;而且该效应在女性、受教育程度较低、原新农保参保群体、已经在领取养老金的群体与东部地区居民中更为突出。渠道分析发现,改革主要通过提高养老金收入影响已在领取养老金群体的主观福利。为进一步完善城乡居保制度,文章建议健全缴费激励机制、逐步提高统筹层次、积极推动跨区域整合,缩小社会保障领域的三大差异。

Employing data from the four waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study(CHARLS)between 2011 and 2018, this paper investigates the impact of the integration of basic pension schemes for rural and non-working urban residents on individuals’ subjective wellbeing using time-varying difference-in-differences method. We find that:(1) The reform has significantly improved residents’ subjective wellbeing, with an increase of 0.064 in self-rated life satisfaction, and a reduction of 0.420 in depression index.(2) The effects are more pronounced among women, the low-educated, those covered by the new old-age pension system for rural residents, those receiving pension benefits, and the residents in East China.(3) For the elderly who are already receiving pensions, the subjective wellbeing improvement is mainly driven by increased pension income. This paper suggests that the integration of basic pension schemes for rural and non-working urban residents is of far-reaching significance for the improvement of residents’ subjective wellbeing. It should gradually improve the overall planning level, actively promote cross-regional integration, further optimize and expand its impact on individuals’ subjective wellbeing, and promote the realization of China’s modernization with coordinated material and spiritual civilizations.