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

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.