WHY DO MIGRANT WORKERS NOT PARTICIPATE IN URBAN SOCIAL SECURITY SCHEMES? THE CASE OF THE CONSTRUCTION AND SERVICE SECTORS IN TIANJIN

Abstract Background: Rural-to-urban migration has increased rapidly in China since the early 1980s, with the number of migrants reaching 376 million in 2020 (National Bureau of Statistics [NBS], 2020). Despite this sharp trend and the significant contributions that the migrants have made to urban development, migrant workers have had very limited access to the social insurance that the majority of urban workers have enjoyed. Methods: Based on the background of the social insurance system adjustment in Chengdu in 2011, we establish a difference-in-differences (DID) model to empirically test the impacts of change in social insurance policy contribution rates on migrant workers' social insurance participation rates, using the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) data from 2009-2016.Results: The social insurance participation rate of migrant workers was significantly reduced after they are incorporated into the urban worker insurance system. Meanwhile, there is no significant change in the wages of migrant workers, but the working hours became longer and the consumption level turned lower. That is to say, simply changing the social insurance model of migrant workers from "comprehensive social insurance" to "urban employee insurance" reduces the incentives for migrant workers to participate in the insurance and harm the overall welfares of migrant workers.Conclusion: The design of the social security policy is an important reason for lower participation rate of migrants. Therefore, it is necessary to solve the problem of insufficient incentives through targeted social security policies. Specifically, the first is to formulate a social security policy contribution rate suitable for the migrants. The second is to establish a comprehensive social security policy and gradually integrate the social security system.

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Institutional Design and Incentives for Migrant Workers to Participate in Social Insurance in China: Evidence From a Policy Experiment in Chengdu City

Frontiers in Public Health ◽

10.3389/fpubh.2021.736340 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Yihao Tian ◽

Yuxiao Chen ◽

Mei Zhou ◽

Shaoyang Zhao

Keyword(s):

Social Security ◽

Migrant Workers ◽

Security Policy ◽

Social Insurance ◽

Institutional Design ◽

Participation Rate ◽

Social Insurance System ◽

Insurance System ◽

The Social ◽

Social Security Policy

Rural-to-urban migration has increased rapidly in China since the early 1980s, with the number of migrants has reached 376 million by 2020. Despite this sharp trend and the significant contributions that migrants have made to urban development, the migrant workers have had very limited access to the social insurance that the majority of urban workers enjoy. Against the background of the social insurance system adjustment in Chengdu in 2011, this study uses a difference-in-differences (DID) model to empirically test the impacts of changes in the social insurance policy contribution rates on the social insurance participation rates of migrant workers, using the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) data for 2009–2016. We find that the social insurance participation rate of migrant workers was significantly reduced after they were incorporated into the urban worker insurance system. There was no significant change in the wages of migrant workers, but the working hours were increased and their consumption level decreased. In other words, simply changing the social insurance model of migrant workers from “comprehensive social insurance” to “urban employee insurance” reduces the incentives for migrant workers to participate in insurance and harms the overall welfare of migrant workers. Our study indicates that the design of the social security policy is an important reason for the lower participation rate of migrants. It is necessary to solve the problem of insufficient incentives through the targeted social security policies; primarily, the formulation of a social security policy contribution rate suitable for the migrants, and the establishment of a comprehensive social security policy and the gradual integration of the social security system.

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Vreemde werknemers, werkgelegenheid en sociale zekerheid

Res Publica ◽

10.21825/rp.v28i1.19193 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 95-110

Author(s):

Frank Moulaert

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Social Security ◽

Migrant Workers ◽

Social Security System ◽

Security System ◽

Quality Level ◽

Tertiary Sector ◽

Total Employment ◽

Professional Career ◽

The Social

This article gives a survey of the position of migrant workers in the Belgian labor market and social security system. Total employment of migrants has increased from 114,000 in 1954 to 224,900 in 1970.In contrast to overall employment in the Belgian economy, it went on climbing till 1978, up to a 245,900 level. Beyond this year, forecasts point at a slight decrease. Since WWII, the gravity point of the sectoral division of migrant workers has shifted from minig and industry, to industry and tertiary activities. The share of industry in the employment of migrants bas remained relatively stable, in contrast to the tertiary sector, that witnessed a considerable expansion. However, the latter has not contributed substantially to the quality level of the average guest worker's job.On the whole, there is a strong correspondence between the unstable position of migrants in the labor market and their demographic characteristics on one side, their participation in the social security system on the other side. Their young family structure is reflected in a high share in family allowances and a limited appeal to pension funds. Statistical analysis at the aggregate level does not point at discriminatory practices vis-à-vis migrants and their families in social security ; but at thedisaggregate level and through the inspection of laws, regulations and international conventions, it appears that non-EEC nationals, with an unstable professional career, do not have the same rights as Belgians or EEC-citizens having a confortable position in the labor market and the social security system. In order to guarantee the rights of the farmer, the author suggests to establish a citizenship entitling to full social security rights after five years of regular residence in Belgium.

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Protection of the right to social security of the migrant worker in international law

Journal of Comparative Law in Africa ◽

10.47348/jcla/v8/i2a5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 104-148

Author(s):

Kehinde Anifalaje

Keyword(s):

Social Security ◽

International Law ◽

Migrant Workers ◽

Migrant Worker ◽

Human Right ◽

Number Of Factors ◽

The Social ◽

Domestic Legislation ◽

The Right ◽

International Instruments

The right to social security is recognised as a basic human right in a number of international instruments. While most nations give recognition to social security rights and generally enforce them within the dictates of domestic legislation to their nationals, the narrative is different for non-nationals, particularly the migrant worker. The article examines the measures that have been deployed at international and regional levels to protect the social security rights of migrant workers, with particular attention to the regular ones. It argues that a number of factors, including the doctrines of territoriality and nationality, account for the marginalisation of the migrant worker in the enforcement of these rights. Some migrant-specific international instruments and series of bilateral and multilateral agreements to overcome these perceived challenges are being hindered by the low number of ratifying countries and disparities in the design and level of development of schemes for specific branches of social security across countries. The article concludes that the social security right of the migrant worker would be enhanced if more countries ratify, domesticate and enforce relevant international instruments on the social security rights of the migrant worker and complement same by a much more coordinated bilateral and multilateral social security agreements.

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SAGA OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN INDIA: MEASURES TO STRENGTHEN SOCIAL SECURITY

Towards Excellence ◽

10.37867/te120519 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 183-195

Author(s):

Deepa Pillai ◽

Leena Dam

Keyword(s):

Social Security ◽

Internal Migration ◽

Migrant Workers ◽

Large Scale ◽

State Level ◽

Policy Formulation ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Government Interventions ◽

Internal Migrants ◽

Security Standards

COVID 19 pandemic has thrown up bitter colors when India witnessed the large scale gory sage of reverse internal migration of unorganized workforce. As compared to intercontinental migration the degree of internal migration is twice. Displacement, lockdowns, loss of employment, starvation and social distancing provoked a frenzied course of mass return for internal migrants in India and other parts of the world. In India there is a peculiar trend of unorganized workforce migration. Out of 29 states and 7 union territories, few states dominate where migrants flock for seeking livelihood. The fleeing of migrants to their inherent origin has weakened the economic activities towards slowdown in the economic growth. This thematic review paper discusses the problems of the internal migrants and their state during and post lockdown announcements in India. The data included extracts of articles, opinions and reviews for which codes were recognized which lead to formulation of research themes. The review also highlights government interventions in addressing the challenges confronted by the internal migrants with social security. This study proposes an arrangement as migrant exchange at state level for efficient policy formulation and accomplishment of social security standards.

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