Does New Rural Social Pension Insurance Impact on Rural Elderly Individual’s Working Hours in China?

China is experiencing a significant demographic shift towards population aging, particularly pronounced in rural areas, escalating the demand for elderly security. Consequently, many rural elderly individuals are compelled to continue working to sustain their livelihood. In response to this challenge, the Chinese government introduced the New Rural Social Pension Insurance (NRSPI) in 2009, aiming to provide economic support that would ensure a stable income for rural individuals in their old age. This research utilizes data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS) and employs fuzzy regression discontinuity design (fuzzy RDD) to examine the impact of the NRSPI’s payment on the working hours of rural elderly individuals. The results indicate that the NRSPI’s payment significantly reduced the agricultural self-employed working hours among the rural elderly individuals but did not have any effect on employment working hours.