My cousin works at a private company in Lanzhou. Last month, with business slack, her salary was cut from 4,500 to 3,800 yuan. Then yesterday she saw the notice: the lower limit of the 2026 social insurance contribution base is 4,526 yuan - higher than her actual wage. She is puzzled: is social insurance deducted according to actual wages, or according to this floor?
On the afternoon of August 25, Gansu Province's departments of human resources and social security, finance, statistics and taxation jointly issued a document fixing the province's 2026 social insurance contribution base. As soon as the news broke, workers in Lanzhou, Tianshui, Qingyang and elsewhere immediately began buzzing with discussion.
The figure drawing the most attention is the monthly contribution base of 7,542 yuan, with an upper limit of 22,626 yuan and a lower limit of 4,526 yuan. Anyone earning just over 3,000 yuan a month will be counted in the social insurance system as earning 4,526. With individuals contributing 8% for pension insurance and 0.3% for unemployment insurance, the two items together deduct 375.7 yuan per month.
Many people's actual wages never reach 4,526 yuan. In 2025, the minimum wage standard for Gansu's Class-I areas was 2,020 yuan per month. Earning 2,000 yuan yet paying contributions on a 4,526-yuan base leaves people feeling the burden is heavy.
Compared with last year's base figures, this year's floor has been raised again, by 436 yuan. This means that even if wages do not rise, monthly social insurance deductions will still increase by tens of yuan. For someone earning 3,000 yuan a month, that money may amount to a week's worth of groceries.
The document notes that flexible-employment workers may choose their own contribution base anywhere between 4,526 and 22,626 yuan, and may pay on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis. Choosing the minimum tier of 4,526 yuan means paying 905.2 yuan per month; choosing a higher base such as 10,000 yuan means paying about 2,000 yuan monthly.
