IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/ecdecc/doi10.1086-728696.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How and Why the Gender Pension Gap in Urban China Decreased between 1988 and 2018

Author

Listed:
  • Björn Gustafsson
  • Peng Zhan
  • Hanrui Jia

Abstract

In urban China, gender gaps in employment and earnings have steadily increased since the 1990s. Such gender gaps are important because pension rights and amounts are based on labor force participation and wages. However, as this study demonstrates, despite the rise in gender differences in the urban labor market, the average gender pension gap decreased between 1988 and 2018. In this paper, we describe the evolution of the fragmented pension system in urban China by using a quantitative approach that distinguishes between pension coverage rates and average benefit amounts. Additionally, we conducted a birth cohort analysis to gain further insights into the reasons for changes in the gender pension gap. We use data from the China Household Income Project and focus on individuals aged 60 years and older. Therefore, this study demonstrates how changes in China’s pension system have benefited women more than men during the aforementioned period.

Suggested Citation

  • Björn Gustafsson & Peng Zhan & Hanrui Jia, 2025. "How and Why the Gender Pension Gap in Urban China Decreased between 1988 and 2018," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(2), pages 651-678.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/728696
    DOI: 10.1086/728696
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/728696
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/728696
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/728696?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:ecdecc:doi:10.1086/728696. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/EDCC .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.