Under the strong pressure of the working class struggle, Germany promulgated the Law on Old Age and Disability Insurance in 1889, which marked the birth of the old-age insurance in modern society. From the end of 19 to the first half of the 20th century, European countries successively established compulsory old-age insurance systems. In the 1930s, an unprecedented economic crisis broke out in the United States, and many retirees were unable to maintain a basic life. To this end, the United States promulgated the Social Security Law in 1935, and established a set of insurance system for the elderly and widows, with the aim of ensuring that all Taiwan Province and French workers can enjoy the lowest level of retirement income.

In the early days of the founding of New China, the state began to establish the old-age insurance system for urban workers. The State Council promulgated the Regulations on Labor Insurance in People's Republic of China (PRC) on 195 1, which was revised and implemented on 1953. This regulation makes detailed provisions on social insurance such as pension for employees of state-owned enterprises. Enterprises pay the insurance premium equivalent to 3% of the total wages of enterprise employees every month, of which 30% is turned over to the National Federation of Trade Unions as the general labor insurance fund, and 70% is deposited in various enterprise trade unions. The pension stipulated at that time was 50%-70% of the employee's own salary. 1955, the State Council promulgated the measures for endowment insurance for staff of state organs and institutions. 1958, which unified the old-age insurance system for employees of enterprises, institutions and state organs. In this way, China's unified old-age insurance system for urban workers has been basically established nationwide.