Low-income communities and urban poverty in China

Abstract

This paper examines the social and economic impacts of market transition and structural adjustment policies in China. It studies the employment patterns and income levels in poor residential areas found in two inland cities—Shenyang and Chongqing. Household survey data collected in autumn 2000 was analyzed to determine the relationship among work, income, and household poverty during the transitional period. Low level of household income in poor areas was mainly caused by the particular local employment structure inherited from the old system. For many poor residents, market transition was not a smooth process and had resulted in unemployment, falling of income and living standards. A simple poverty-line-based assistance approach promoted by the government may help some of the very poor, but it is not enough to address the underlining causes of urban poverty