abstract: 'China''s main comparative advantage in international competition is its

  cheap labour, mostly migrant workers from rural areas. Migrant workers

  play an important role in the economic development of China. Since 1978

  when China began to adopt the reform and opening-up policy, more and

  more migrant workers have poured into cities and towns to seek better

  employment opportunities. However, besides low wages, they have to

  endure long working hours and dangerous working environments. In

  addition, many employers do not contribute social insurance for migrant

  workers at all, leaving them vulnerable to unexpected living costs.

  According to a survey conducted in the Yangtze Delta Region by the Legal

  Aid Program for Migrant Workers at Nanjing University in August 2009,

  only 39.3 per cent of migrant workers have pension schemes, and 31.5 per

  cent of migrant workers have not joined any social insurance schemes of

  any sort. In some cities such as Wenzhou, even fewer are covered, as

  only 15.4 per cent of migrant workers have a pension scheme and 50 per

  cent of migrant workers have not joined any social insurance scheme.

  When migrant workers become old, sick, unemployed or injured in

  industrial accidents, they fall into poverty because they cannot apply

  for social insurance benefits. Among these problematic issues, old-age

  insurance should be specifically highlighted because more migrant

  workers are reaching their retirement age. There has been an increasing

  number of pension cases filed at the courts of law. However, many courts

  refuse to proceed with the hearings of these social insurance cases, or

  apply inappropriate legal doctrines in the trial process. It is also

  almost impossible for migrant workers to get legal redress for their

  pension benefits when their employers fail to comply with the law and

  contribute fees for them. It is imperative for the Chinese government to

  unify the old-age insurance system countrywide.'
affiliation: 'Zhou, CZ (Corresponding Author), Nanjing Univ, Sch Law, Nanjing, Peoples
  R China.

  Nanjing Univ, Sch Law, Nanjing, Peoples R China.'
author: Changzheng, Zhou
author-email: earnestzhou@gmail.com
author_list:
- family: Changzheng
  given: Zhou
da: '2023-09-28'
eissn: 0219-8614
files: []
issn: 0219-7472
journal: CHINA-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
language: English
month: AUG
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '8'
pages: 135-150
papis_id: 4a412c48d74a01564b1617c90242c4a1
ref: Changzheng2015legalprotection
times-cited: '1'
title: Legal Protection of the Right to Old-Age Insurance for Migrant Workers from
  Rural Areas in China
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000360141000008
usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
usage-count-since-2013: '26'
volume: '13'
web-of-science-categories: Area Studies
year: '2015'