The Impact of Public Pension on Chinese Household Consumption

The Impact of Public Pension on Chinese Household Consumption

Purpose: The improvement of the social security system can greatly affect residents' future uncertainty, and it is important to study the relationship between public pensions and household consumption. Research design, data and methodology: Using the 2018 China Household Panel Survey (CFPS) data, the instrumental variable method is used to analyze the impact of pension insurance on urban residents' consumption. Results: The results of the study show that there are differences in the impact of three different pension insurance systems on household consumption. The pension insurance for public sector significantly boosts household consumption, and having a pension insurance for public sector can increase household consumption by 7.7%. The pension insurance for enterprise employee will reduce household consumption, but this is only significant for urban households. The pension insurance for urban and rural residents has a negative impact on household consumption. For the 16- to 39-year-old group, having a pension insurance for urban and rural residents will reduce household consumption by 5.7%. At the same time, household income, assets, scale, and education level will positively stimulate household consumption. Conclusions: The study reveals varying impacts among different pension types, highlighting the need for optimizing social security schemes to incentivize higher consumption rates.