Poverty concentration and determinants in poor urban neighbourhoods and social groups

1. Poverty concentration and determinants in poor urban neighbourhoods and social groups Shenjing He, Fulong Wu, Chris Webster School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University, UK Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

2. Background • Large-scale industrial restructuring and State-Own-Enterprise reforms turning laid-off workers into urban poor • Hurdles of age, skill and education • Mismatch of skill and space, • Competition among themselves and from rural migrants • Swarming rural migrants with low-skills and living in marginal conditions in the city • Constrained by the urban-rural dichotomy • Comparatively low skills and educational attainments Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

3. The emergence of poverty concentration in urban China • Two groups of urban poor (the new urban ‘underclass’) • Laid-off workers • Rural migrants • Three types of poverty neighbourhood • Inner-city dilapidated neighbourhoods • Degenerated workers’ villages • Rural migrant enclaves/urban villages Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

4. A study on poverty concentration and determinants • Part of a research project funded by ESRC/DFID UK: urban poverty and property rights changes in China • Examining patterns of urban poverty and institutional causes • A study on poverty concentration and determinants in poor neighbourhoods and social groups • Based on large-scale household survey • Social concentration, not spatial concentration Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

5. The survey • Poverty neighbourhoods in 6 cities • Xi’an, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Ha’erbin, Kunming • Selection of poverty neighbourhoods • Inner city neighbourhoods and workers’ villages: referring to MLSS coverage rate • Urban villages: referring to 2000 census data • 1809 questionnaires in 25 neighbourhoods Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

6. Poverty measures and their concentration categorised by neighbourhoods q FGT indices (Foster, Greer, and Thorbecke 1984): P = 1/n ∑ ((Z-Ii)/Z) i=1 Where n = total population, q = the number of poor, Z is the poverty line, and Ii is the average income of the ith household (i = 1, 2, …, q ). P0 =poverty rate; P1=poverty gap; P2=weighted poverty gap; Pm=MLSS coverage rate; Pp=poverty perception, Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

7. Poverty measures and their concentration categorised by hukou and employment status Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

8. Poverty measures and their concentration categorised by HH age and educational attainments Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

9. Poverty measures and their concentration categorised by HH occupation Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

10. Poverty measures and their concentration categorised by housing tenure Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

11. Findings on poverty concentration • Old inner city neighbourhood has the highest concentration of poverty • Laid-off/unemployed rather than rural migrants is the poorest group • Mismatch between actual poverty rate and distribution of state welfare provision Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

12. Logistic regression models for poverty determinants Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

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16. Inside formal urban institutional settings Working urban residents (old urban neighbourhood, workers’ village) Retirees (old urban neighbourhood, workers’ village) Economically active Economically inactive Rural migrants, re-employed laid-off workers (urban village, old urban neighbourhood) Laid-off/unemployed (workers’ village, old urban neighbourhood) Outside formal urban institutional settings Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

17. Findings on poverty determinants • Workers’ village/laid-off • Countless ties with the central planned system • Urban village/rural migrants • Exposed to the market economy to a greater extent • Two important poverty determinants: protection of state institutions and economic activities • Finding a place in the market economyis becoming more important, especially for those eliminated or excluded from state institutions, i.e. the laid-off and rural migrants Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University  

18. Thank you! Conference on China's Urban Land and Housing 13th-15th Dec 2007 Hong Kong Baptist University