Problems, causes and countermeasures of rural social security system?

The development and promotion of rural social security is related to the all-round and healthy development of rural economy and society, as well as the social stability in rural areas. At present, it is still too early to improve the rural social security system under the condition of low level of rural economic development in China. We should correctly understand the actual situation in rural areas, and gradually establish and improve China's rural social security system on the basis of improving agricultural production capacity.

Keywords: urban social security to distinguish agricultural production capacity

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"Agriculture, countryside and farmers" is one of the key factors that puzzle the coordinated development of rural modernization and national economy in China. Although governments at all levels and academic circles have put forward various views on how to solve the "three rural issues", rural urbanization, farmers' non-agriculture and agricultural industrialization cannot be achieved overnight, but it is more a trend and development direction. It can be said that the level of rural development determines the overall level of economic development in China. Without a better solution to the rural problems, it is impossible for China's national economic development to achieve leap-forward development. The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China put forward the program of building a well-off society in an all-round way, and the people of the whole country are struggling to achieve the third-step strategic goal. However, it should not be ignored that in the vast rural areas of China, there are still a considerable proportion and number of farmers who have not solved the problem of food and clothing, and their living and production conditions are worrying, and the backward development of rural social security is even worse. Poverty and unemployment in rural areas are still outstanding, which is not only related to the overall and healthy development of rural economy, society and national economy, but also related to social stability and farmers' trust in the government and the ruling party. Therefore, it is urgent to promote the construction and development of rural social security and effectively protect and enhance farmers' interests.

A five-member investigation team from the Business School of our college went to more than ten rural areas in Hubei and Hunan, and made home visits and field visits from five aspects: rural land system, rural tax and fee reform, farmland water conservancy construction, farmers' organization construction and rural social security construction. Everywhere I went, I was shocked by the simplicity of farmers and the backwardness of rural development. While seeing the achievements and great changes in rural reform and opening up, we also witnessed the reality that farmers' production and life quality is low and lack of security. This paper will take Hubei and Hunan as examples to discuss the present situation, problems and prospects of rural social security development in China.

First, the current situation of rural social security in China-farmers' production and life are basically not guaranteed.

We define rural social security as living security and agricultural production security. Among the farmers we surveyed, when asked, "Do you think production and life are guaranteed?" 90% of the farmers answered "No" (10), but the details are different. Some people think that life is guaranteed, production is not guaranteed, and some people think that neither is guaranteed.

Table 1: Are farmers guaranteed for production and life?

The farmer replied

1 If you encounter natural or man-made disasters, you are unlucky.

I didn't even take care of it

Once every two years and once every season, there is no guarantee.

4 disasters are not guaranteed, but they can be solved by themselves.

There is no rescue in the sick village, and the construction of water conservancy facilities is guaranteed.

Agricultural production is not guaranteed, and even a small amount of subsidies above are divided up by cadres.

7 there is no guarantee in the case of natural disasters and man-made disasters.

Water conservancy facilities were built in 1950s and 1960s.

There is no guarantee at all

10 the collective cares nothing, and it will have to wait for death if it is seriously ill.

As far as life is concerned, the per capita annual income of farmers is about 654.38+10,000 yuan, which is obviously low in some areas. For example, Pan Qi Village, Jiangshe Town, Xiangtan, Hunan Province only needs 500 yuan. This income level is far from that of urban workers. Even if the historical vertical comparison is made, considering the rising price index and other factors, it is indeed low, and it is still difficult to meet the basic needs of farmers. When asked whether there is protection in case of natural disasters and diseases, 52.4% of farmers replied that the lack of corresponding assistance from government departments is not enough to solve the problem, and even a small amount of subsidies were divided up by cadres in some places. 47.6% farmers think that the government's assistance and their own efforts are enough to tide over the difficulties and their lives are basically guaranteed. Farmers have strong opinions on rural medical care and old-age care. At present, farmers are responsible for their own illness and death, and the government rarely takes care of and helps them. In most areas, the cooperative medical system, which once played an important role in the rural collective economy, basically does not exist. When farmers get sick, they or their relatives help them go to the hospital. Generally speaking, if the conditions are not good and the economic conditions are not good, there is only "waiting for death at home". Nursing homes are facing an embarrassing reality. On the one hand, there are nursing homes all over the country, and some old people still live there. On the other hand, there are no nursing homes and there are unreasonable age restrictions. For example, Pan Qi Village, Jiangshe Town, Xiangtan, Hunan Province stipulates that only the elderly over 65 can enter. According to the survey, the source of funds for rural nursing homes mainly depends on the higher-level government grants and donations from village-run enterprises and individuals. However, at present, most towns and villages in our country have financial deficits and are unable to take care of the development of nursing homes. As for village-run enterprises and individuals, the situation may be better in economically developed areas, but it is very poor in remote rural areas. Therefore, at present, the main form of rural old-age care in China is child support. The situation of the "five guarantees" is even worse, with only a small amount of food and clothing subsidies every year. Even in zhijiang city, Hubei Province, where the economic situation is slightly better, before the tax and fee reform, the "five guarantees" treatment was 800 yuan for everyone every year, regardless of illness. -With regard to the relief for poor households, most rural areas have not yet established a standardized and fixed system. Most of them use "some food and several hundred dollars" to subsidize poor households after "village committees study" in an emergency. According to our investigation, according to the statistics of zhijiang city in Hubei Province in 2002, the poverty-stricken households in zhijiang city accounted for 7‰ of the total agricultural population in the city, and the newly-increased poverty-stricken households accounted for 10.9‰. In addition, the centralized support rate of the "five guarantees" is only 60%. See Table 2 and Table 3 for details. However, in Wu Jian Village, Huangsha Township, Liling City, Hunan Province, poor households can receive subsidies according to the standard of 5 people 100 yuan by the end of the year, while ordinary poor households do not. In addition, the "minimum living allowance" in rural areas is still in the planning stage. In the dozens of areas we investigated, except Tuanfeng County, Hubei Province, which has already started the pilot project, none of them have been really implemented.

As far as agricultural production is concerned, the protection of farmers' interests is even weaker. Farmers' agricultural production is basically self-financing and resigned to fate. There is no guarantee in the case of natural and man-made disasters. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

(A) irrigation and water conservancy and other infrastructure construction lack of organization, the intensity is small. The household contract responsibility system has been implemented for more than 20 years. While promoting the improvement of agricultural productivity and releasing rural production energy, it also exposes many weaknesses and disadvantages, which restrict the development of modern agriculture to a certain extent, which are as follows: (1) The number of agricultural business units is greatly reduced, which hinders the application of agricultural modernization technology; (2) The construction and maintenance of agricultural infrastructure has been weakened; (1) Agricultural investment decreased. According to the farmers surveyed, since the large-scale collective farmland water conservancy construction in 1950s and 1960s, there has been basically no new construction or reconstruction, and many water conservancy facilities and other collective infrastructure have not been repaired for a long time, or collapsed or failed to function normally, which has seriously affected the smooth progress of agricultural production. In Tenghe Village, zhijiang city City, Hubei Province, the construction of water conservancy facilities, including ditch dredging and drought resistance, is funded by the village. Farmers, fearing that others will benefit, either do it themselves or nobody cares. According to local villagers, a 500-600-meter-long canal has long lost its basic irrigation function because the villagers are unwilling to repair it. In Songzi City, Hubei Province, farmland irrigation is completely gravity irrigation, and almost all ditches have been demolished. Local farmers nicknamed it "small communication ditch, big communication river", and the infrastructure lacked unified and standardized management. A considerable number of water conservancy facilities have been transformed into homestead, and some have been blocked or destroyed, which can not meet the needs of irrigation at all.

(B) the government and the village committee's guidance and assistance to farmers' production is not in place. Most farmers surveyed admit that agricultural production is now "resigned to fate", and the risks are basically borne by families, and the government pays less for the losses suffered by agricultural production. In Xinzhou District, Wuhan City, Hubei Province, local farmers used a jingle to describe the situation when farmers were affected by the disaster. "This year's losses will be made up next year, the losses in the fields will be made up outside the fields, the losses in spring will be made up in autumn, and the losses in agriculture will be made up in other ways."

(3) The development of rural social insurance and commercial insurance lags behind. On the one hand, this is due to the backward concept of farmers, on the other hand, it is closely related to the current overall economic development in rural areas. Farmers' income growth is slow, credit concept is weak, and commercial insurance is difficult to carry out. So far, there is almost no awareness of agricultural production insurance in rural areas, and many farmers think that this is just an illusion.

Therefore, from the perspective of farmers' life and agricultural production, farmers in China are basically insecure. Rural social security still stays in the most basic stage of land security function, that is, land is the most basic and final guarantee for farmers' production and life. These conditions show that there is still a lot of room and a long way to go for the development of rural social security in China.

Second, the difficulties in developing rural social security-from the difference between rural social security and urban social security.

On the one hand, the lagging development of rural social security in China is restricted by many objective factors in history and reality, on the other hand, it is closely related to the special environment in rural areas of China. China's national economy is still a dual structure of rural areas and towns, industry and agriculture, and towns are the leading factors of China's economic and social development. What we usually call establishing a sound social security system mainly refers to the urban social security system. For rural areas, the conditions for establishing a similar social security system are not yet mature. To understand this problem, we can understand it from the difference between rural social security and urban social security:

First of all, the economic development level of the two is far from each other. The establishment and operation of the social security system must be based on a sound and reasonable industrial structure and a relatively developed economic situation. Cities and towns play an important role in the economic and social development of China. Most of the country's investments and projects are in cities and towns, and many powerful enterprises and institutions related to the national economy and people's livelihood are in cities and towns. In addition, the reasonable proportion structure among industries in cities and towns provides a larger space for the development of the tertiary industry and a good environment for the formation of social security. Comparatively speaking, in rural areas, agriculture occupies an absolute dominant position, especially the low agricultural labor productivity in China, which binds farmers to agricultural production and greatly inhibits the development of social security.

Secondly, from the source of social security funds, in cities and towns, because there are a large number of enterprises and institutions that bear the obligation to pay social security fees, the income level of urban residents is higher than that of farmers in both absolute level and growth rate, and they are able to pay social security fees. Statistics show that urban residents in China pay 27% of their wages at this stage. In addition, the national financial allocation of social security funds is mainly in cities and towns, and a perfect charging and management system has been formed, and cities and towns have the conditions to establish norms. Rural areas pay more attention to the smooth progress of agricultural production and the stability of farmers' lives, and rarely rise to the level of social security.

Thirdly, judging from the consequences of the implementation of social security, cities and towns have established a relatively perfect social security system, especially the establishment of the urban minimum living security system, which has enabled urban residents to have the most basic living security, that is, the "safety line", but this does not affect the pursuit of higher income by urban residents. Most people would rather get more income than receive the "minimum living guarantee". However, in rural areas, the situation is different. Due to the low living standard in rural areas and heavy labor in agricultural production, a considerable number of farmers will give up agricultural production, do nothing, and even become idle people. This will not only seriously affect the progress of agricultural production, but also easily breed unstable factors in rural areas.

Finally, judging from the quality of urban residents and farmers, urban residents are generally highly educated, and their concepts and consciousness are more advanced and open, while farmers' awareness of small farmers is deeply rooted, and they pay too much attention to immediate interests and fail to see long-term interests. Therefore, even if rural social security is implemented at this stage, few farmers will accept and participate, and they will be more skeptical and wait-and-see attitude.

The natural difference between rural areas and towns determines that the rural social security system cannot be established at this stage. Therefore, we believe that it is too early to establish a perfect rural social security system. It needs to be based on rural economic development and the upgrading and transformation of agricultural economic structure.

Third, promoting rural social security-improving agricultural production capacity is the key.

It can be said that rural social security mainly depends on farmers themselves, that is, mutual assistance among farmers, because the state is temporarily unable to take care of the assistance to farmers. Therefore, to strengthen and promote rural social security, we must spare no effort to promote agricultural production, improve agricultural production efficiency and accelerate the all-round development of rural economy and society. From another angle, we believe that the foothold of rural social security at this stage is to protect and improve agricultural production capacity. To improve agricultural production capacity, specifically, we should do the following work:

(1) attaches great importance to rural areas and agriculture from a strategic perspective and puts it into practice. Our party and government have always believed that agriculture is the foundation of the national economy and the cornerstone of the development of the whole national economy. Without the modernization of agriculture, there will be no modernization of the whole national economy. However, a worrying fact is that the state investment in agriculture and rural areas is declining year by year. According to the survey, excluding key rural construction projects (such as Three Gorges Project), the actual investment in rural irrigation and water conservancy construction in China will increase from 70% in 1950s and 1960s to about 10% now. According to the survey, rural infrastructure construction is getting less and less, and serious areas have almost collapsed. Therefore, we should regard rural areas as an important growth point of China's national economy, increase investment in agricultural production, and accelerate the improvement of current agricultural production conditions, especially the construction of water conservancy facilities and land improvement.

(2) Deeply understand the fragility of agricultural production and enhance the resilience of agriculture. Agriculture is a department greatly influenced by natural conditions, with strong seasonality, high risk and strong constraints by land and climate conditions. In the event of natural disasters, agricultural production will suffer huge losses, which will bring serious consequences to farmers' production and life and the sustainable development of rural economy, such as the flood disaster that swept across the country in 1998, which still has a far-reaching impact on agricultural and rural development. We need to formulate scientific agricultural production plans and management procedures according to different actual conditions in rural areas, and cooperate with perfect social services such as weather forecast and pest control.

(3) Reduce the burden on farmers and implement a differentiated tax and fee system according to time and place. In the past, China implemented the system of levying agricultural tax per head. Since the reform of rural taxes and fees, the tax standard has been changed to pay taxes according to the land area. Although this tax and fee reform has obviously reduced the burden on the vast majority of farmers, there are still many problems, and even increased the burden on a few farmers to some extent. Therefore, we should fully consider the interests of all walks of life, take care of all walks of life in rural areas, and implement a differentiated tax and fee system. We can refer to the individual income tax collection system and set a bottom line for farmers' taxes and fees, that is, the "starting point". Farmers whose income level is below this "threshold" can be exempted from taxes and fees.

(4) Vigorously develop rural basic education and vocational education, improve the quality of farmers, and adopt advanced technology to realize the modernization of agricultural production. Farmers are the most fundamental decisive force in agricultural production, and their own quality directly determines the efficiency of agricultural production. Paying attention to rural basic education and developing rural vocational training are important ways to improve farmers' quality. In addition, we should actively introduce and popularize modern agricultural production technology to realize the transformation of agricultural production to intensive and efficient.

From the perspective of improving agricultural production capacity, this paper puts forward strategies to strengthen the rural production guarantee function from four aspects. In addition, there is still a lot of work to be done and improved to promote rural social security and promote the all-round development of rural economy and society, including: establishing and improving the system of rural social relief and farmers' mutual assistance, scientifically determining the target of protection, reasonably raising security funds, promoting rural social insurance, establishing rural social security institutions, and improving the corresponding laws and regulations system.