The Impact Of Population Aging On Urban-Rural Income Gap

In recent years,China’s economic development level has maintained rapid growth,but the income gap between urban areas and rural areas is still very large.According to the relevant data of China Statistical Yearbook,the per capita income ratio of urban and rural residents was 3.22 in 2005,3.55 in 2010,and 2.73 in 2015,and 2.56 in 2020.The income gap between urban and rural areas has always been at a high level.The per capita income of urban residents is much higher than that of rural residents.At the same time,the phenomenon of aging population is becoming increasingly serious.Data show that the proportion of the elderly population aged 65 and above in the total population of China has been increasing from 2006 to 2020,and this ratio has risen to13.5% in 2020,which has already exceeded the definition standard of aging society.Compared with other developing countries,China’s population aging degree is relatively high.As two prominent phenomena in China,the large income gap between urban and rural areas and the high degree of population aging,whether aging has a certain impact on the size of the income gap between urban and rural areas is the problem to be solved in this paper.By referring to literature on the impact of population aging on the income gap,it can be found that most domestic scholars study the impact of population aging on the overall income gap,while foreign scholars mostly use transnational data or national data for research,and rarely study the impact of population aging on the urban-rural income gap.This paper first analyzes the current situation of population aging and urban-rural income gap;Secondly,the specific mechanism of population aging on the urban-rural income gap is analyzed,which is mainly explained from the two perspectives of the old-age system and the difference in the burden of supporting the elderly between urban and rural areas.Finally,based on the panel data of 30 provinces from 2006 to 2020,empirical tests are carried out for different regions.As the aging degree of eastern,central and western Regions of China is different,testing for different regions can find out whether there are regional differences in the dynamic correlation between aging and urban-rural income gap.According to theoretical analysis and empirical test results,the urban-rural income gap will be expanded by the impact of population aging,and this impact is consistent in the direction of each region,but the size is different.The results of robustness test show that the above empirical results are robust and effective,that is,the urban-rural income gap can be narrowed by controlling the elderly population.Therefore,this paper puts forward relevant suggestions from the aspects of coordinating the urban and rural pension system,reducing the pension burden in rural areas,and encouraging the rural elderly who have the ability to work to find a second job.