Recently, several food delivery platforms have announced that they will gradually pay social security for delivery riders, which has been met with cheers.
However, the word “for” in paying social security for delivery riders is worth pondering and delving into. Who will bear the cost of paying social security? Who needs this social security more? It may be very different from what you think.
First, the cost of paying social security will likely not be borne by the platform, but will be passed on to consumers, that is, you and me who order takeout, through the increase in takeout prices.
According to a special researcher at the Zhejiang University Interdisciplinary Center, if social security is paid for full-time and stable part-time riders according to the statements released by the Meituan platform, it is expected to involve 820,000 people. If the five insurances and one housing fund are paid according to the lowest base, it will cost about 15.5 billion yuan per year, and even without paying the housing fund, it will cost 13.3 billion yuan.
In contrast, Meituan’s entire group’s net profit attributable to shareholders in 2023 was 13.856 billion yuan. If the above-mentioned social security expenses for delivery riders are all borne by the platform, this item alone can directly lead to a loss.
It can be seen that the platform cannot fully bear the social security costs of delivery riders, and even bearing a small part will be a blow.
The so-called platform will purchase five insurances and one housing fund for riders, but it is only the platform that takes the lead in opening a social security account for riders and deducts funds on a monthly basis, which is not what everyone imagines that the platform will pay to improve the welfare of riders.
Second, compared to the riders’ need for social security, the current situation is that the social security fund needs the participation of millions of riders more.
A very simple truth: if the riders think they need social security, they can open an account and pay it themselves as flexible employees. It is not that the platform does not cooperate, and the riders cannot pay social security.
Of course, the delivery riders with a monthly income of over 10,000 yuan are still a minority. It is difficult for most people to pay more than 1,000 yuan per month to pay for their own social security. Even if they get 1 yuan more per order, and get more than 1,000 yuan more income per month, the riders are very likely to prefer cash rather than pay social security.
This is also why the requirements of the human resources and social security department and the announcements of the platform all propose to (uniformly) purchase social security for riders, rather than increasing the income of riders and letting them decide whether to buy social security or buy a mobile phone.
In the final analysis, the people who are promoting this change are not really concerned about the improvement of riders’ income and the improvement of their quality of life, but the annual increase of billions of yuan in the social security fund.
In reality, what riders really need are accident insurance and localized medical insurance. The former is determined by the high safety risks of the delivery riders’ occupational attributes, and the latter is mainly to solve the problem that the existing rural cooperative medical care of the riders is inconvenient to reimburse in the city where they work.
As for the old-age insurance and housing provident fund, you can ask any rider on the street and you will know what everyone thinks…
Third, the social security of riders will be promoted, and the price of takeout will also gradually increase. This is for sure.
Some readers may be concerned that since the delivery riders do not need social security so much, or do not need such complete social security, is it possible that this matter will not be implemented?
The answer is no.
The reason why various food delivery platforms have issued announcements to express their position in this round is that they will gradually pay social security for riders. It is not as rumored that JD.com took the lead and set a good example, and other companies had to follow suit. That’s nonsense!
In fact, what JD.com promised to buy social security for riders is to buy social security for the newly built full-time delivery riders, and the scale of this group of riders is expected to be about 10,000, accounting for less than 1% of all JD.com riders, which is not even a fraction of the number of riders that Meituan promised to buy social security for.
However, no matter how cautious the scope of the current commitments of each company is, the work of purchasing social security for riders must be carried out. Because this does not come from the needs of market competition, but from the requirements of the human resources and social security department, and even more from the desire of the social security fund.
And not only delivery riders, all flexible employment forms mainly composed of young people, including online car-hailing drivers and on-site massage technicians, will be gradually included in social security. In contrast, the human resources and social security department will not urge enterprises to pay social security for groups such as cleaning and housekeeping, which are mainly composed of the elderly.
So, in the near future, every time you and I order a takeout, every time we take a car, it is equivalent to making a contribution to the enrichment of the social security fund.
To solve the worries of the country is the greatest glory.
A constructive suggestion:
Support the improvement of the welfare of delivery riders and improve the delivery riders, which is beneficial to the whole society.
But it doesn’t have to be through social security, right?
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