Saturday, January 26, 2013

Poverty in China

I have had not luck establishing international contacts and the podcast there were available I felt did not pertain to poverty, so I decided to research http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/ which is a helpful resource to see poverty around the world.  The website helped put poverty in perspective for me and how all countries experience this issue.
I chose to research China
  • Poverty has decreased in China since the 1990s.  By 2000 rural poverty in China reduced from 30.7 percent to 3.7 percent.  This is a major decrease but there are still 15 to 31 million in poverty where the total population is 1.27 billion.
  • 4.2 million Chinese children live in extreme poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantage conditions.
  • China has a social security system for families to assist with poverty only in urban areas.  There is really no assistance for families who live in rural areas of China.  China has a social relief program for urban area families but the amount of assistance given is still too small to meet the families basic needs including food, clothing, shelter and education for children. 
Again, reading about poverty in other areas around the world has made me realize this is a huge issue where ever you go.  After researching, articles state that poverty goes from one generation to the next.  How can families become self-sufficient if poverty is passed along from generation to generation?  I worry that we will never be able to pull out of poverty in our country.  With the way the economy is today, we have more people struggling to make ends meet and end up in poverty.  

Reference

Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre. Retrieved from www.childhoodpoverty.org 
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownJanuary 26, 2013 at 11:13 AM

    I appreciate your post on poverty in China. During your research did you find anything that described the schools in poverty stricken areas, or if poor children in China are even able to attend school?

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  2. AnonymousJanuary 27, 2013 at 4:15 PM

    Lorren-
    I have asked myself the same thing- will we ever have no poverty in our country? After hearing the percentage of poverty in China I felt that the rate was very good. But when you stated the number, it made me realize that there are still many, many children living in disadvantage there. I wonder if all the factory work being done there is helping with the poverty dilemma or adding to it (workers make very little wages and have to work long hours with no days off). Thanks for sharing!

    Victoria

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  3. Terri SiverlingJanuary 27, 2013 at 8:41 PM

    Interesting that there is no supports for families in rural parts of China. Living in rural Pennsylvania I often feel like most of the state's assistance goes to families living in the larger cities (Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) and that the needs of families in the rural areas are often overlooked. Thanks for sharing!

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