About China: Poverty

Poverty in China

Poverty means far more than simply not having enough money for minimal survival needs. It means the “denial of opportunities and choices most basic to human development - to lead a long, healthy, creative life and to enjoy a decent standard of living, freedom, dignity, self-esteem and respect from others.” (UNDP, 1997). Poverty affects all aspects of the nation’s life. It affects the environment, health, education, housing, nutrition and agriculture to name but a few areas. Its ultimate power is in distorting individual’s values, disrupting families and communities, sending millions from the poorer regions to the cities in a desperate search for work. There are at least 80 - 100 million people on the move in China as a result of poverty in the rural areas. Estimates of the extent of poverty vary depending on which indicators one chooses. Using the government poverty line, China’s rural poor decreased dramatically from 250 million in 1978 (30% of the rural population) to 42 million in 1998 (4.6% of the rural population). Using a standard international poverty line of $1 per day would result in a substantially greater number of absolute poor, but the trend in reduction of poverty is still confirmed. The proportion of the poor in the western provinces increased from less than half of all China’s rural poor in 1988 to more than two thirds in 1996 because poverty reduction efforts have not been as successful in these regions.

When poverty is measured in terms of nutrition, it often seems similar to that measured by the official income poverty line. A report based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) household data found that a quarter of the rural population had less than a minimum level of calorie intake in 1990, while a more recent survey in six poor counties found over one third had a per capita income below the national poverty line (Wang and Li, 1998). Linked with this is the high level of under-five mortality which indicates the deterioration of basic public health services, especially in remote poor areas where the infant mortality rate exceeds 100/1000, at least twice the national average.

Although well over one billion people live above the poverty line in China, the following illustration gives an idea of the possible effects of gender discrimination on the prospects of girls and women. Though gender discrimination is not equivalent to poverty, such discrimination is a vulnerability factor that can impoverish. The situation is such that if a girl were born today in a poor rural ethnic minority community in China she would experience more threats from poverty than most of her compatriots. Malnutrition, coupled with low access to health care, may heighten her vulnerability during the first five years of her life. If she attended school, there is a chance that the lessons would not be in her ethnic language and she is likely to remain illiterate. If she wanted to work off the farm there are far fewer opportunities for her than her brother and if she did find work, she would be paid less for it. She would be unlikely to be able to enter politics or the government services, as these are predominantly open to men. If she migrated to the cities she would find no welcome from the authorities or residents there as urban poverty and unemployment begins to climb. Continued poverty and a sense of desperation could lead her towards high-risk behavior or ill health, treatment for which she would not be able to afford in the city and would be difficult to find in her home region. As she became older and no longer able to work she would find fewer working people able to look after her as the income/dependency ratio changes to her disadvantage.