I chose to look at the poverty rate in China. I chose China because I knew a lot of people lived there and I wondered if they had a high poverty rate because they had such a big population. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that China actually has a very low poverty rate. China made a huge cut in its poverty rate in the last thirty years. In 1980 China had the largest number of people living in poverty with a poverty rate of 84% (The Economist, 2013). In 2013 China’s poverty rate was approximately 10% (The Economist, 2013). This huge change is attributed to the economic reforms taking place in the country in the last thirty years. “One particular aspect of the socio-economic success has been the rapid industrialization of the country, with a major pivot of people moving from the poorer rural areas of the country to more well off jobs in urban centers, particularly within the manufacturing sector” (Kravtsov, 2013).
After the year 1990 many governments came together and made it their goal to cut the amount of people living in poverty in half by 2015. This was called the Millennium Development Goal. China was the first developing country to achieve this goal. China achieved this goal in 2010 when their poverty rate dropped to approximately 12%. “China alone accounts for around three quarters of the world’s total decline in extreme poverty over the past 30 years” (The Economist, 2013).
Even though China has made huge progress in lowering the percentage of people in poverty, their economic growth has been uneven. There is a huge income gap between people who live in urban areas and people who live in rural areas. In the rural areas there is still a high percentage of people in poverty. China is one of the most unequal countries in the world when it comes to people’s wealth. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. This is something the country is currently working to change.
References
Kravtsov,
G. (2013, December 24). China makes huge
strides to tackle poverty. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/24/business/china-poverty-report/.
The Economist. (2013, June 1). The
world has an astonishing chance to take a billion people out of extreme poverty
by 2030. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21578643-world-has-astonishing-chance-take-billion-people-out-extreme-poverty-2030-not
Courtney
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! I wonder if the families who choose to remain living in those rural areas stay because they lack education and job training the same as those living in poverty here in the United States. What are your thoughts?
Cynthia,
DeleteI would have to agree with you. I think those families probably do lack education and job training and they do not feel like they can make it in the urban jobs. This is why education is so important!
Hi Courtney,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. That is very interesting that China was able to accomplish so much through economic reforms. I found a large gap between the rich and poor in Mexico as well and a similarity between the rural areas having higher rates of poverty. I wonder if other countries should be looking to China as an example on how to reduce poverty levels. Do you think other countries could do similar things? -Mary
Mary,
DeleteI do not totally understand all of what China did economically to make such huge changes but I would think other countries could do it too. I would think it might work better in more developed countries.
Very interesting post. I went to the Economist link and read a little more about it, trying to read why there was still the big gap in wealth, but it doesn't elaborate on that. My daughter did a study on child labor in China for a high school report, and one of her resources was a video narrated by a young girl working in a factory. It was heartbreaking how hard this girl and her friends worked to earn just a little money to send back home to her rural farm family. Many of her friends felt they should stop buying things made in China so these children wouldn't have to endure such unfair conditions, but she felt that if it weren't for us buying their products, these girls wouldn't even have the little they do, and would either be prostitutes or drug addicts/dealers. A different perspective on ways of life for the poor.
ReplyDelete