The Pattern of Urban–Rural Disparities in Multidimensional Poverty in the People’s Republic of China: 2000–2011

Abstract

According to the World Bank’s estimate of poverty using the international poverty line of $1.25 a day (in 2005 PPP), the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has shown a remarkable achievement in reducing income/consumption poverty over the past two decades or so. In 2014, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released a report which attempted to adjust this poverty line using the poverty lines of selected Asian countries. The ADB report proposed an absolute cut-off of $1.51 for Asia. Furthermore, the report suggested that the poverty line be adjusted for vulnerability of income and insecurity with respect to food. With all these adjustments, the report’s poverty estimate for PRC is almost three times more than the World Banks’ estimate. However, ADB (2014) did not make any comparison of the difference between the rural and urban scenarios of poverty. This chapter aims to utilize the poverty lines used in the ADB 2014 report in estimating the rural–urban disparities in poverty. We also compare the results with the $1.25 poverty line to specify the differences.