At the national meeting in March this year, the government announced a decision: "The basic pension of retirees will continue to be appropriately raised." This decision has significantly brought warmth to all pensioners.
Based on the average wage growth rate and price growth level of the society last year, and also referring to the adjustment history in recent years, a rough estimate shows that the pension adjustment in 2024 may be between 3.5% and 4%. Specific policy announcements are usually issued between April and May each year.
Looking back on the adjustments over the years, some people may wonder: Why do some people's pensions increase by less than 100 yuan, while some people can increase by four or five hundred yuan? What is the adjustment mechanism of pensions?
1. Three ways of pension adjustment
When the state considers pension adjustments, its consistent guiding principles are fairness and efficiency. In other words, we need to ensure that everyone's rights and interests are respected as much as possible, and at the same time, we are able to promote the development of society through reasonable mechanisms.
Pension adjustment is divided into three types of adjustment methods, namely fixed amount adjustment, linked adjustment and inclined adjustment, which mainly reflect the principle of fairness and justice.
The fixed adjustment means that for each province, there will be a uniform increase in the basic pension for all retirees, and this increase will be the same for each person, and will not vary according to their original pension amount.
For example, in 2023, Shandong Province decided to increase the monthly pension of each retiree by 41 yuan as a fixed increase.
The peg adjustment adopts an incentive system of "the more you pay, the longer you pay, the more you increase", which means that retirees who have paid for a longer period of time and a higher level of pension before the adjustment will receive more increases.
Taking Henan Province in 2023 as an example, the adjustment of the pension system stipulates that for individuals who have paid for one year, the pension will increase by 1.2 yuan per month, and on this basis, it will be increased by 1.1% of the basic level of pension.
Finally, the tilt adjustment is mainly to take care of special groups including elderly retirees, retirees in remote areas, and military retirees.
In Shanxi Province in 2023, for example, the pension of retirees will be increased by an additional 30 to 32 yuan depending on their age, and the basic pension for retirees in remote areas will be increased by an additional 6 yuan or 11 yuan.
These three adjustment methods comprehensively reflect the principle of fairness and justice for different groups, and provide different forms of pension increases for retirees.
2. Why do some people's pensions increase by 100 yuan, while some people can increase by a few hundred yuan?
In fact, this is mainly due to the mainland's pension calculation formula. This formula mainly reflects the incentive mechanism of overpayment and long-term payment.
That is, the annual pension adjustment of participation is calculated only in the year following retirement. Under the design of this mechanism, everyone's enthusiasm for insurance payment is high, which can reduce the cost of collecting social security premiums.
So, while some people may not have much pension growth, they may have contributed less or contributed smaller amounts before.
Generally speaking, retirement pensions need to meet the minimum number of years of contributions, and the current standard is at least 15 years of contributions. Then, as long as these conditions are met, everyone can actually be treated fairly in the adjustment part.
Taking Shandong Province as an example, in its pension adjustment plan in 2023, first of all, everyone can increase the fixed amount by 41 yuan, and if it meets the standard of 15 years of payment, it can also be increased by 19.5 yuan at the minimum
According to this calculation method, the fair adjustment amount for each pensioner participating in the adjustment is actually 60.5 yuan. This shows that although the pension increase of some retirees may be less than 100 yuan, while the increase of others may reach hundreds of yuan, the basic principle of fairness of pension adjustment remains unchanged, and the difference only comes from the difference in personal conditions.
Not only that, but we have adopted a preferential policy towards the elderly, with special attention to the elderly. In order to ensure the quality of life of the elderly to the greatest extent, the state takes into account the needs of the elderly when adjusting pensions.
For example, in Shandong Province, according to the tilt adjustment of the previous year, for the elderly who reached the age of 70, 75 and 80 in the previous year, the pension will be increased, and for enterprise retirees, it will be increased by 290 yuan, 190 yuan and 360 yuan respectively.
Write at the end
To sum up, the adjustment of pension is not a simple matter, it involves fairness, effectiveness and many other factors, which need us to understand and master from multiple angles and levels.
Our goal is to hope that every retiree can receive a fair and reasonable pension treatment, so that they can live a stable and comfortable life in their old age.