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Who are the Asset-Poor in China: A Comprehensive Description and Policy Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

YUANYUAN YANG ,
JUN-HONG CHEN  and
MINCHAO JIN
YUANYUAN YANG
Affiliation:
Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA email: [email protected]
JUN-HONG CHEN
Affiliation:
NYU Silver School of Social Work, 1 Washington Square North, New York, NY 10003, USA emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
MINCHAO JIN*
Affiliation:
NYU Silver School of Social Work, 1 Washington Square North, New York, NY 10003, USA emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
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Abstract

There is a large body of literature asserting that household asset holdings play a critical role in prospects of economic and social well-being. This study examines asset-poverty rates in China using the 2013 survey data from the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP). The results indicate that asset-poverty rates in urban China were lower than those of developed countries, whereas rural and migrant households experienced more serious asset poverty than their counterparts in urban China. In addition, the asset-poverty rates were at least twice the income-poverty rates in China according to the different poverty lines used in the study. Several demographic characteristics were found associated with asset poverty. To assist the Chinese government in reaching its goal of eradicating absolute poverty by 2020 through targeted poverty alleviation, this study suggests including assets in the description and alleviation of poverty.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 48 , Issue 4 , October 2019 , pp. 765 - 787
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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