Open Access Journal Article

The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China

by Dehua Li a,*  and  Fei Yi a
a
School of Public Administration, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
JES  2025 3(1):20; https://doi.org/10.58567/jes03010003
Received: 27 January 2025 / Accepted: 25 March 2025 / Published Online: 29 May 2025
View Full-Text
Download PDF

Abstract

The gender characteristics of initial wage levels in the labour market were investigated using data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), and gender differences in the individual retirement accounts wealth of urban employees were studied on this basis. The results indicate that for female employees, the individual retirement accounts wealth they obtained through longer life expectancy is largely offset by their low level of income and short contribution period, and the net pension wealth of female employees who retire at statutory retirement age is even lower than that of male employees. Due to the inheritability of account balances, extending the retirement age will increase the individual retirement account net pension wealth of all employees, and each year of extension will bring more net pension wealth increase to male employees.

Keywords: Individual Retirement Account; Pension; Labour Market; Gender Difference; Delayed Retirement;
Copyright: © 2025 by Li and Yi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Cite This Paper
APA Style
Li, D., & Yi, F. (2025). The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China. Journal of Economic Statistics, 3(1), 20. doi:10.58567/jes03010003
ACS Style
Li, D.; Yi, F. The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China. Journal of Economic Statistics, 2025, 3, 20. doi:10.58567/jes03010003
AMA Style
Li D, Yi F. The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China. Journal of Economic Statistics; 2025, 3(1):20. doi:10.58567/jes03010003
Chicago/Turabian Style
Li, Dehua; Yi, Fei 2025. "The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China" Journal of Economic Statistics 3, no.1:20. doi:10.58567/jes03010003

Share and Cite

ACS Style
Li, D.; Yi, F. The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China. Journal of Economic Statistics, 2025, 3, 20. doi:10.58567/jes03010003
AMA Style
Li D, Yi F. The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China. Journal of Economic Statistics; 2025, 3(1):20. doi:10.58567/jes03010003
Chicago/Turabian Style
Li, Dehua; Yi, Fei 2025. "The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China" Journal of Economic Statistics 3, no.1:20. doi:10.58567/jes03010003
APA style
Li, D., & Yi, F. (2025). The Gender Differences in Pension Wealth of Individual Retirement Accounts in China. Journal of Economic Statistics, 3(1), 20. doi:10.58567/jes03010003

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

References

  1. Almenberg, J., and Dreber, A. (2015). Gender, stock market participation and financial literacy. Economics Letters, 137, 140-142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2015.10.009
  2. Anderson, D. J., Binder, M., and Krause, K. (2002). The motherhood wage penalty: Which mothers pay it and why?. American Economic Review, 92(2), 354–358. https://doi.org/10.1257/000282802320191606
  3. Budig, M. J., Misra, J., and Boeckmann, I. (2012). The motherhood penalty in cross-national perspective: the importance of work-family policies and cultural attitudes. Social Politics, 19, 163–193. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxs006
  4. Caselli, G., Lipsi, R. M. (2019). Survival inequalities and redistribution in the Italian pension system. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 1, 083-110. https://doi.org/10.1553/populationyearbook2018s083
  5. Chhaochharia, V., Ghosh, S., Niessen-Ruenzi, A., and Schneider, C. (2021). Public Child Care Provision and Women's Career Choices. Working Paper. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2943427
  6. Cordova, K., Grabka, M. M., and Sierminska, E. (2022). Pension Wealth and the Gender Wealth Gap. European Journal of Population, 38, 755–810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-022-09631-6
  7. Fan, W. Q., and Yang, H. L. (2021). Research on the Impact of Delayed Retirement on Individual Pension Benefits. The Theory and Practice of Finance and Economics, 42(06), 52-58. https://doi.org/10.16339/j.cnki.hdxbcjb.2021.06.007
  8. Feng, J. (2017). The Effect of Increasing Retirement Age on Pension Wealth and Welfare: A Study Based on Heterogeneous Individuals. Chinese Social Security Review, 1(04), 44-57.
  9. Giannikos, C. I., and Korkou, E. (2022). Gender Differences in Risk-Taking Investment Strategies in Defined Contribution Plans. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 15(5), 220. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15050220
  10. Grady, J. (2015). Gendering pensions: making women visible. Gender Work Organization, 22, 445-458. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12096
  11. Haan, P., Hammerschmid, A., and Rowold, C. (2017). Gender Gaps in Pensions and Health: Germany, France, and Denmark. DIW Economic Bulletin, 7(43), 436-442. https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.567701.de/diw_econ_bull_2017-43-3.pdf
  12. Hou, M. (2016). The Gender Wage Gap and Gender Discrimination：An Analysis of RIF Regression Decomposition Method. South China Population, 31(01), 18-25.
  13. Kingsbury, M. A. (2019). Expanding Understanding of Motherhood Penalty: How Gaps in Family Policies Contribute to Gaps in Old-Age Earnings in Russia. Frontiers in Sociology, 4, 67. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2019.00067
  14. Krapf, M., Ursprung, H. W., and Zimmermann, C. (2017). Parenthood and productivity of highly skilled labor: evidence from the groves of academe. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 140, 147-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.05.010
  15. Kuhn, U. (2020). Augmented wealth in Switzerland: the influence of pension wealth on wealth inequality. Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, 156(1), 19. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41937-020-00063-9
  16. Liu, W. (2013). Does Late Retirement Surely Damage the Retired Interest? An Investigation on the Pension Wealth of Various Retirement Ages of Urban Employees. Economic Review, (04), 27-36. https://doi.org/10.19361/j.er.2013.04.004
  17. Niessen-Ruenzi, A., and Schneider, C. (2022). The Gender Pension Gap in Germany – Reasons and Remedies, CESifo Forum, 23(02), 20-24. https://www.cesifo.org/en/publications/2022/article-journal/gender-pension-gap-germany-reasons-and-remedies
  18. OECD. (2021). Pensions at a Glance 2021: OECD and G20 Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris. https://doi.org/10.1787/19991363
  19. Peng, H. R. (2012). The Incentive Effect of China’s Basic Pension System on Individual Retirement Behavior. Statistical Research, (09), 31-36. https://doi.org/10.19343/j.cnki.11-1302/c.2012.09.006
  20. Simonovits, A. (2015). Benefit-Retirement Age Schedules and Redistribution in Public Pension Systems. Finance a Uver, 65, 362-76. http://journal.fsv.cuni.cz/storage/1338_simonovits.pdf
  21. Sunden, A. E., and Surette, B. J. (1998). Gender Differences in the Allocation of Assets in Retirement Savings Plans. American Economic Review, 88(2), 207-211. https://www.jstor.org/stable/116920
  22. Wang, Y. K., and Xia, H. Z. (2021). Gender Gap in Pensions of Urban Workers in China and its Changes. Academic Research, (01), 57-65.
  23. Warren, T. (2006). Moving Beyond the Gender Wealth Gap: On Gender, Class, Ethnicity, And Wealth Inequalities In The United Kingdom, Feminist Economics, 12(1-2), 195-219. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13545700500508502
  24. Xia, Q. J., Sun, Q. X., and Zhuang C (2015). Analysis of Gender Wage Gap in China's Economic Transition Period. Social Science Front, 10, 38-55.
  25. Yang, Y. N., Zeng, Y., and Qu, T. T. (2014). Does Defer Retirement Age Reduce Worker's individual Pension Wealth?. Journal of Financial Research, (01), 58-70.
  26. Yu, J. Y. (2014). A Quantitative Study on Postpone Retirement and Pension Wealth. Population＆Economics, (04), 74-81.
  27. Yu, W. G., Ren, W. C., Wang, Q., Huang, Y. J., and Cui, C. R. (2021). The Optimal Retirement Age in China Based on the Measure of Pension Wealth from the Perspective of Employees. China Soft Science, (03), 53-63.
  28. Zanier, M. L., and Crespi, I. (2015). Facing the Gender Gap in Aging: Italian Women’s Pension in the European Context. Social Sciences, 4(4), 1185-1206. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci4041185
  29. Zhang, K. S., and Liu C.H. (2017). Empirical Research on the Gender Wage Gap of College Graduates. Research on Economics and Management, 38(09), 84-94. https://doi.org/10.13502/j.cnki.issn1000-7636.2017.09.009
  30. Zhao, R., and Zhao, Y. H. (2018). The Gender Pension Gap in China. Feminist Economics, 24(02), 218-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2017.1411601
  31. Zheng, S. J., and Wang W.D. (2017). Will Delayed Retirement Reduce the Pension Wealth of Employees?. Insurance Studies, (05), 103-116. https://doi.org/10.13497/j.cnki.is.2017.05.009