Migration & Poverty Alleviation in China
Migration is now playing an increasingly important role in rural
income growth and poverty reduction in China, according to two
Chinese researchers writing in a new report in the IOM Migration
Research Series.
In “Migration & Poverty Alleviation in China”,
Wang Dewen and Cai Fang of the Institute of Population & Labour
Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences argue that
labour market policy reforms are creating an institutional
environment supportive of rural-urban migration and are recognizing
its potential role in reducing income inequalities.
Rapid agricultural growth has reduced the incidence of rural
poverty in China by half over the past 30 years, but rural poverty
reduction has slowed since the 1980’s, resulting in widening
urban-rural income inequalities and major disparities between
regions.
The researchers see migration as a tool to accelerate the
transformation of economic structures, pointing to growing links
between rural and urban areas, the contribution of remittances to
the rural poor, the contribution of cheap rural labour to urban
economic growth, and the narrowing of rural-urban disparities
through the reallocation of factors of production.
But although remittances account for 18 per cent of rural income
and reduce rural poverty by nearly 20 percentage points, it remains
difficult for very poor rural households to fully take advantage of
new labour markets and benefit from China’s rapid economic
growth.
Massive migration from the countryside to China’s booming
cities does not significantly contribute to urban poverty, but
vulnerable rural migrants can face discrimination and risk becoming
marginalized in poorly paid jobs, the researchers say.
The solution, according to Wang and Cai, is the abolition of
remaining constraints on labour mobility and the creation of a
portable social security system for rural migrants, that would
allow them to fully benefit from the country’s economic
growth.
In addition to a rural social security scheme, the report also
backs proposals for a minimum standard of living scheme, a rural
cooperative medical scheme and a rural pension system to reduce
poverty and income inequalities in rural China, particularly among
the elderly.
For more information, please contact:
Gerry Pascua
IOM Beijing
Tel: + 86 10 8532 1834
E-mail:
"mailto:gpascua@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">gpascua@iom.int
Frank Laczko
IOM Geneva
Tel: +41 22 717 9416
E-mail:
"mailto:flaczko@iom.int" target="_blank" title=
"">flaczko@iom.int