1 Introduction 1
China’s socioeconomic development：reflections on how things were 3
China’s social welfare system：challenges and progress 7
China’s ‘developmental social welfare system’ in 2012 and 2020：ideas for the future 19
2 Basic principles and overall framework for a ‘developmental social welfare system’ 24
Basic principles for building a ‘developmental social welfare system’ 24
Framework for a ‘developmental social welfare system’ 26
Management system for a ‘developmental social welfare system’ 28
Legal environment for a ‘developmental social welfare system’ 34
3 The course of development and reforms made in other social welfare systems in the world 38
History of social welfare systems 38
Different forms and classifications of social welfare systems 40
Reforms of social welfare systems in different countries 44
Debates on social welfare reform，and the risks involved 55
4 A welfare system with coverage for all rural migrant workers 60
Inadequate social welfare programs for rural migrant workers 60
Establish and improve the pension system for rural migrant workers 62
Housing security for rural migrant workers 64
Employment training and services for rural migrant workers 66
Other social security programs for rural migrant workers 69
5 Old-age security 71
The current status of the old-age security system 71
Main problems in the old-age security system 77
Development objectives of the old-age security system 79
Policy recommendations 82
6 Health security 92
Development of China’s healthcare services system 92
Reform and development of the medical security system 96
Main problems in the health security system 101
Objectives of a ‘developmental health security system’ 106
Policy recommendations 108
7 Education security 115
A review of compulsory education in China 115
Problems facing China’s compulsory education 119
Objectives of a ‘developmental education security system’ 125
Policy recommendations 131
8 Employment security 137
Economic restructuring and the evolution of employment policies 137
The establishment and development of an unemployment insurance system 141
Main problems of the unemployment insurance and employment security systems 147
Objectives in building a ‘developmental employment security system’ 153
Policy recommendations 154
9 Housing security 160
The process of housing reform 160
Urban and rural housing security systems at present 165
Current housing security system problems 174
Objectives of housing security systems 186
Policy recommendations 189
10 Basic living allowance system 195
The development of the minimum living allowance system 195
Effectiveness and problems of a minimum living allowance system 199
Role of a minimum living allowance in a developmental welfare system 201
Objectives of the MLA system and measures for its improvement 203
Policy recommendations 206
11 Social welfare systems for special groups 209
Development of welfare for the disabled 209
Development of social welfare for senior citizens 213
Development of social welfare for women and children 215
Problems underlying social welfare for special groups 218
Creating social welfare for special groups：objectives and methods 221
Policy recommendations 225
12 Social welfare programs supported by public finance 229
Government spending on social welfare programs：trends and analysis 229
Public financial resources needed for building a developmental social welfare system 234
Estimated capacity of public finance to support the building of a social welfare system 244
Developmental social welfare system：fund raising and management 247
13 Policy recommendations 253
Pensions 253
Health security 257
Education security 258
Employment assistance and unemployment insurance 259
Housing security 260
Minimum living allowance 261
Social welfare systems for special groups 261
Budget for asocial security fund 262
Raise the percentage of welfare expenditures in GDP and government spending 262
Appendix 263
Bibliography 287
Index 293