Twelve Urban poverty in China: incidence and policy responses
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Athar Hussain
Abstract
This chapter describes new research on urban poverty in China, which has the largest population in the world. It sets out to answer two sets of questions. First, how many urban poor are there in China, and what percentage of the urban population do they represent? Second, what social safety nets are there to rescue the urban population from poverty? In order to answer the first set of questions, the chapter draws upon urban household data collected by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics. It answers the second set of questions in terms of an assessment of the two income-maintenance schemes that serve as supports of the social safety net for the urban population. The key policies for the urban poor in China are the Minimum Living Standard Scheme (MLSS), a recent addition, and a longer-established social-security package that includes social insurance.
Abstract
This chapter describes new research on urban poverty in China, which has the largest population in the world. It sets out to answer two sets of questions. First, how many urban poor are there in China, and what percentage of the urban population do they represent? Second, what social safety nets are there to rescue the urban population from poverty? In order to answer the first set of questions, the chapter draws upon urban household data collected by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics. It answers the second set of questions in terms of an assessment of the two income-maintenance schemes that serve as supports of the social safety net for the urban population. The key policies for the urban poor in China are the Minimum Living Standard Scheme (MLSS), a recent addition, and a longer-established social-security package that includes social insurance.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- Acknowledgements ix
- The human condition is structurally unequal xi
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International anti-poverty policy: the problems of the Washington Consensus
- Poverty, social exclusion and social polarisation: the need to construct an international welfare state 3
- Is rising income inequality inevitable? A critique of the ‘Transatlantic Consensus’ 25
- The international measurement of poverty and anti-poverty policies 53
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Anti-poverty policies in rich countries
- Social policy in the US: workfare and the American low-wage labour market 83
- A European definition of poverty: the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the member states of the European Union 119
- Welfare state solidarity and support: the Czech Republic compared with the Netherlands 147
- Targeting welfare: on the functions and dysfunctions of means testing in social policy 171
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Anti-poverty policies in poor countries
- Structural adjustment and mass poverty in Ghana 197
- Social funds in sub-Saharan Africa: how effective for poverty reduction? 233
- Urban water supply, sanitation and social policy: lessons from Johannesburg, South Africa 251
- Round pegs and square holes: mismatches between poverty and housing policy in urban India 271
- Urban poverty in China: incidence and policy responses 297
- ‘A new branch can be strengthened by an old branch’: livelihoods and challenges to inter-generational solidarity in South Africa 325
-
Future anti-poverty policies: national and international
- Human rights, transnational corporations and the World Bank 351
- Are we really reducing global poverty? 377
- 1% of €10,000 billion 401
- Conclusion: constructing an anti-poverty strategy 413
- Manifesto: international action to defeat poverty 433
- Index of material and social deprivation: national (UK) and cross-national 437
- Index 443
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Notes on contributors v
- Acknowledgements ix
- The human condition is structurally unequal xi
-
International anti-poverty policy: the problems of the Washington Consensus
- Poverty, social exclusion and social polarisation: the need to construct an international welfare state 3
- Is rising income inequality inevitable? A critique of the ‘Transatlantic Consensus’ 25
- The international measurement of poverty and anti-poverty policies 53
-
Anti-poverty policies in rich countries
- Social policy in the US: workfare and the American low-wage labour market 83
- A European definition of poverty: the fight against poverty and social exclusion in the member states of the European Union 119
- Welfare state solidarity and support: the Czech Republic compared with the Netherlands 147
- Targeting welfare: on the functions and dysfunctions of means testing in social policy 171
-
Anti-poverty policies in poor countries
- Structural adjustment and mass poverty in Ghana 197
- Social funds in sub-Saharan Africa: how effective for poverty reduction? 233
- Urban water supply, sanitation and social policy: lessons from Johannesburg, South Africa 251
- Round pegs and square holes: mismatches between poverty and housing policy in urban India 271
- Urban poverty in China: incidence and policy responses 297
- ‘A new branch can be strengthened by an old branch’: livelihoods and challenges to inter-generational solidarity in South Africa 325
-
Future anti-poverty policies: national and international
- Human rights, transnational corporations and the World Bank 351
- Are we really reducing global poverty? 377
- 1% of €10,000 billion 401
- Conclusion: constructing an anti-poverty strategy 413
- Manifesto: international action to defeat poverty 433
- Index of material and social deprivation: national (UK) and cross-national 437
- Index 443
