The Economic Effects Of The Chinese Migrant Workers Social Security Research

Internationally, the social security system resulted from industrialization. There have been over 130 years history since the first social security schemes had been initiated in Gennany in 1883. Recently, there are more than 100 countries and regions having established social security systems. In 1952, the International Labour Organization (ILO) defined the main benefit coverage of the social security system should include the following aspects:medical care, sickness benefits, unemployment benefits, pension, employee injury benefits, family allowances, maternity benefits, disability benefits, survivor benefits, etc.. ILO also gave the required minimum standards of each scheme. Generally, a social security system should include social insurance schemes, social reliefs, and social welfare schemse. In modern market economy, a social security system is functioning as helping its citizens get out of crisis, providing the basic living needs, and protecting social fairness and justice. The relevant economic theories claim that the social security system as a whole, should aim to protect and improve the people's life and keep the stable and harmonious development. Social security and economic development are interdependent. On the one hand, economic development is the material basis for the social security. On the other hand, social security is counterproductive to economic development. An equity social security system provides not only a more stable and harmonious social environment, but also effects economic development through such factors as savings, capital market, labor market and other factors in turn affect economic growth. Definitely, this reaction can also be negative.Since 1980s, with opening-up and reforming policies as well as industrialization, urbanization, a large group of migrant workers appeared and becomes a major component of the industrial workers. Relatively, the migrant workers are faced with greater social and economic risks, their demand for social security is more urgent. However, in the existing Dual urban-rural social security system with regid regional separation, the migrants'social security is in a "vacuum zones", neither belongs to the urban social security system nor to that of the rural areas.'"Being covered" or "being excluded". It is in a dilemma. In recent years, with more focusis of government policies, the migrant workers'social security system reform has made some progress, but still there are many confronted problems. This deseration focuses on the economic effects of migrants'social security scehems in China. The objective is to understand the major economic risks of the migrant workers in China, what's the status quo of the social security schemes for migrant workers, what are the the main problems, the relevant economic effects. Finaly, some policies options are suggested. Nowadays, it is at crutial stage of the China's social security system reforming, migrant's social security system reforming is a critical and the most decisive aspect.Our research findings and conclusions are as follows:1. Migrant workers are faced with more risks:First, a higer employment risk, including the fewer labor contracts assigned, longer working hours and poor working conditions, delayed and unpaid wages. Second, migrant workers are faced with higher physical and mental health risks. Third, migrant workers are faced with greater risks both housing and in their children's education.2. The status quo of migrants'social security schemes is low participate rate, narrow coverage, and low level of protection. To be specifically, the participantion of endowment insurance insurance is small, with narrow coverage, high lapses rate and obvious regional differences. The main problems are heavy financial burden of insurance premium, difficult in account transferring. The health insurance schemes are diverse in differet regions, with low participateion rate, great differences from one region/sector to another. The coverage is narrow. Migrant workers'occupational injury insurance coverage is low. It is difficult to collect evidences of occupational injury. There are no direct link between occupational injury insurance, and occupational injury prevention, and the rehabilitation services. The maternity insurance of migrant workers is low in participation. In practice, the scheme is not applied to the migrant workers in many areas. The migrant workers'vocational education and training ystem is not complete. Both enterprises and migrant workers are not enthusiastic in participation. The system is poor in constraint and regulation. This results in very low efficiency. The social security schemes concerning migrant workers' housing is not complete. There is insufficien housing for migrant workers. Their housing is in low quality and endangerous conditions. The migrant workers are in poor physical and mental health. The children of migrant workers can not get an equity access to education. There are many negative factors effecting the school education, social education and family education. 3. We use the relevant statistical data of 1989-2007, and adopt cointegration and causality test method, and Granger Test of Causality. Our findings of empirical analysis of the correlation between the migrant workers'social security and economic development are as follows:first, the social security expenditure is one the key factors effecting economic growth. Increase in social security expenditure will lead to increase in GDP, and this impact will be consecutive significantly for over two years. The social insurance and economic growth was a negative correlation due to the direct bottom of people's basic social welfare, it can move up the social security level of the whole society and promote economic growth. Second, the ratio between rural and urban income, social security spending, social insurance expenditures, civil affairs expenditures are negatively correlated, showing a single factor-related. Each individual explanatory variable effects the dependent variable. Government financial input in social security schemes reduced the urban-rural income gap, and migrant workers benefit from it by increasing income and improving their social welfare. Third, the spending in social security is a key factor pushing farmers to migrate to work in cities. The current social security spending led to the inverse changes in the ratio of the rural population to the total population in the first year. The impact of the ratio of rural population to the total population on the social security spending lasted longer, which led to the inverse changes in the social security spending during the first and second year. Fourth, the view of the industrial structure, the primary industry GDP share reflected reflect significant negative correlation between the all social security indicators, however, the shares of secondary industry GDP and that of tertiary industry GDP were positively correlated with social security indicators. This shows that the enhancement of social security of migrant workers (to expand social security coverage and improve the level of protection) is very important for China's industrial structure optimization and upgrading.To improve economic efficiency of migrant workers' social security, nowadays, things must be done in the following aspects:establishing and perfecting the social security schemes of migrant workers, promoting the integration and overall development of China's social security system, optimizing the relavant environment, getting rid of household registration system, and strengthening judicial protection efforts.