Exploring the Path to Improving the Social Security System and Narrowing the Wealth Gap

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-874-5_109How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Social Security System; Wealth Gap; Urban-rural Inequality; Governance Modernization; Common Prosperity

Abstract

China’s rapid economic growth over the past four decades has been accompanied by a widening wealth gap and systemic inequities in access to education, healthcare, and employment. With a Gini coefficient of 0.466 for income and 0.704 for household net assets, inequality is entrenched through housing disparities, digital economy monopolies, and intergenerational poverty. The fragmented social security system exacerbates these challenges, as evidenced by urban-rural divides in medical reimbursement rates (72% vs. 55%) and pension benefits (72% vs. 18%), alongside insufficient fiscal investment (2.8% of GDP). This study proposes a triple reform strategy to transform China’s social security system into an “empowerment engine” for common prosperity. Key measures include expanding coverage to gig workers and migrants via portable benefits, harmonizing urban-rural healthcare reimbursement, and modernizing governance through blockchain technology. Phased goals aim to reduce the Gini coefficient to 0.45 by 2025 and below 0.4 by 2030, supported by increased fiscal redistribution (5% of GDP) and unified legal frameworks. By addressing institutional fragmentation and leveraging digital innovation, the reforms seek to narrow wealth disparities, enhance intergenerational equity, and foster sustainable social protection.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yunhe Yang
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/11/03
TI  - Exploring the Path to Improving the Social Security System and Narrowing the Wealth Gap
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 International Conference on Financial Innovation and Marketing Management (FIMM 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 942
EP  - 947
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-874-5_109
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-874-5_109
ID  - Yang2025
ER  -