Chinese Scrap Collector Receives US$59,000 in Back Pension Payments

A 71-year-old man in central China who spent more than two decades living by collecting scrap has received more than 420,000 yuan (US$59,000) in pension payments after authorities discovered he had been eligible for benefits for years, Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported yesterday.

The man, surnamed Ru, previously worked for a state-owned company in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, for more than 30 years. After being laid off under a buyout arrangement, he quickly spent the compensation he received and later began wandering and collecting recyclable waste for a living.

Ru remained in that situation for about 21 years.

He had mistakenly believed that after losing his job, he needed to continue making pension contributions on his own until retirement age before he could receive benefits. Because he could not afford the payments, he assumed he had lost his pension eligibility and never applied.

That changed in 2025, when social assistance workers in Changde City contacted him and reviewed his employment history. They found that his more than three decades of service, including years counted as deemed pension contributions, meant he had already exceeded the minimum contribution requirement.

Under Chinese pension rules, a person who has accumulated at least 15 years of eligible contributions can receive a monthly pension after reaching retirement age, even if contributions were interrupted.

Officials calculated Ru’s monthly pension at more than 3,700 yuan. Because he had reached retirement age about a decade earlier but had not collected the money, unpaid benefits and accrued interest had built up to 424,204.48 yuan.

The money was not a special one-off subsidy, but pension payments that should have been paid to him over the previous years.

“I never imagined this,” Ru said after receiving a social security card containing the funds. “I’m extremely happy. I want to thank the staff at the assistance center.”

A staff member at the Changde Social Assistance Affairs Center said Ru’s misunderstanding had persisted partly because he had lived outside normal social networks for years. During his time on the streets, he had no stable home or mobile phone, making it difficult for government agencies or others to contact him.

Ru has moved out of a residential building stairwell where he had stayed for about six months. Neighbors said he still rode a bicycle around the area collecting bottles and other recyclables.