Research on the Willingness and Influencing Factors of Chinese Residents to Participate in the Third Pillar of Endowment Insurance

This study focuses on the development dilemma of China's pension system. Facing the increasing aging of the population, the current pension insurance system is facing challenges such as fund revenue and expenditure imbalance and structural imbalance: the proportion of the first pillar is too high, the coverage of the second pillar is limited, and the participation rate of the third pillar as a supplement is far lower than expected. By integrating multi-source research and policy documents, this paper systematically analyzes the current situation and influencing factors of institutional participation. The study found that residents' characteristics (age, education level), economic status (income level, asset allocation), cognitive level (financial literacy, risk awareness), and system design (tax preference, investment choice) significantly affected their participation in decision-making. These factors not only restrict the development of the third pillar but also reflect the complexity of the reform of the old-age security system. The research provides a theoretical basis for improving the individual pension system and increasing the participation rate and has important reference value for the construction of a multi-level pension security system.