Abstract

In 2009, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China put forward a measurement which requires all migrant workers to be included in the urban pension system. Chinese governments believe that this mandatory bill could help solve the endowment problems of migrant workers. However, in this research, we find out that the new measurement would lead to reduction of employment opportunities in the society and, subsequently, harm the benefits of most migrant workers based on the analysis of labor market discipline. In order to scientifically address the pension problem of migrant workers, we investigate the determinants of migrant workers’ preference for joining the urban pension system with the survey data from Shenzhen China in April 2010. This research reveals that the land, family, enterprise and individual factors have impacts on migrant workers’ preference for buying urban endowment insurance. The findings could help the government to learn what types of migrant workers are more likely to have preference for joining the urban pension system, and then focus its promotion of endowment program among the target groups of migrant workers accordingly; thereby, the efficiency of China’s social insurance system could be greatly enhanced.