Equality, Development and Sharing: Progress of Women's Cause in 70 Years Since New China's Founding
The medical security system for women is fully in place. When New China was founded, a medical security system was established, with government units and public institutions implementing free medical care, enterprises carrying out labor-insurance medical care, and rural areas launching cooperative medical care relying on the collective economy. Women enjoyed different levels of basic medical security. Over the past four decades since the launch of reform and opening up, China has gradually established and improved a basic medical insurance system for workers, a new rural cooperative medical care system and a basic medical insurance system for urban residents. A basic medical insurance system for urban and rural women has been fully implemented. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the multi-level medical security system has been further improved. In 2016, the medical insurance system for urban and rural residents was consolidated and the fairness of the system was enhanced. The urban and rural medical assistance and supplementary medical insurance system were improved, allowing more women to enjoy equitable medical security. According to incomplete statistics, the number of women under basic health insurance around the country in 2018 was approximately 540 million.
The level of old-age security for women has been significantly improved. China has established and continuously improved an endowment insurance system for the urban working group. Since the launch of reform and opening up, China has accelerated the construction of endowment insurance system for non-working urban residents and vigorously promoted a new social endowment insurance system for rural residents. The number of insured women and the level of their treatment have increased step by step. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the old-age insurance system has been further improved. In 2014, the new social endowment social security system for rural residents and the social endowment insurance system for non-working urban residents were unified into the basic endowment insurance system for rural and non-working urban residents, making it possible for urban and rural unemployed women to enjoy basic old-age security on an equal footing. In 2017, nearly 380 million women around the country participated in basic old-age insurance. By the end of 2018, a subsidy system for the elderly with financial difficulties resulting from aging and disability was generally established throughout the country. Elderly women's living standards are basically guaranteed.
