Poverty in China - Research Paper Example

Contrasting Programs and Policies Related To Poverty Introduction Poverty is basically an international concern for majority of the nations in the current scenario. It adversely affects the overall advancement of the nations. It requires proper targeting and continuous monitoring for eradication (Wang, 2007). In this regard, poverty issues in China might not be considered as a critical concern for the nation. This can be owing to the reason that since the introduction of economic reforms in the year 1987, the country experienced significant growth rate in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rates. This majorly contributed in bringing down the populaces of the nation under the poverty zone. On the other hand, it can be apparently observed that America is still undergoing through a tough phase in tackling its poverty level, which fluctuates on a constant basis (The World Bank Group, 2014). With this concern, the research paper would describe the programs along with the policies associated with poverty that adopt and implement by the countries i.e. the US and China. Moreover, a comparison would also be taken into concern regarding the same in the discussion of the research paper. Discussion Prior to contrasting the programs along with the policies associated with poverty between China and the US, a detailed description of these programs as well as policies of both the nations has been provided hereunder. Poverty Programs and Policies in China Since the year 1980, the Chinese government has shown significant improvement in declining the poverty rates. The projected poverty rate in China in the year 1980 was estimated 84%, which came down to 13% by the year 2012. The reason contributed in making this terrific improvement is the rise particularly in GDP rates. This can be justified as that the GDP rate rose from 1.89% in the year 1980 to 11.57% in the year 2012, which further resulted towards increase in per capita income by nearly about 30 folds from $205 to $6064 in recent times (The Economic Times, 2013). However, despite the significant success in uplifting the critical concern of poverty, China in the current scenario, is still facing certain issues relating to poverty. In this regard, the increase in the inequality levels and the concentration of the left over poverty populaces in the rural areas are becoming critical concern for the Chinese government (The World Bank Group, 2014). As a corrective measure, China along with ‘The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)’ has concentrated their efforts on two vital aspects. One of these is the pilot projects that will be brought under superior technical assistance and mostly supported by the bank. The second aspect is the evaluation of the results and the findings of the pilot projects, which will be integrated in the policy-making procedure (The World Bank Group, 2014). Observably, China improved a lot in terms of poverty eradication. Initiatives such as ‘World Food Program’ has extensively helped the nation in developing its home grown methods and increasing food productivity, aiming towards poverty eradication (Shih, 2013). The other two initiatives adopted by China for poverty upliftment include loan subsidizing and budgetary grants provided by the government. Based on the above three initiatives, two pilot plans have been enacted that provide a continuous macroeconomic and political constancy, leading towards controlling the sources of poverty. The first pilot plan is the Southwest Poverty Reduction Project (SWPRP) and the other one being the Qinba Mountains Poverty Reduction Project (QMPRP) (The World Bank Group, 2014). The SWPRP program was enacted in June 15, 1995 with the following objectives. Raising effectiveness towards reduction of poverty rates Facilitating increase in labor availability especially from the poverty-stricken areas for eradicating poverty in long run Emphasizing bringing upon improvement in poverty monitoring methods at both local and national level (The World Bank Group, 2014). On the other hand, the QMPRP program was enacted in June 10, 1997, which aimed at eradicating poverty in 26 parts of the mountain region of Qinba. This program also facilitated in introducing microfinance, poverty monitoring and labor development among others. It would be vital to mention that both the above discussed projects were largely supported through massive government funding (The World Bank Group, 2014). Poverty Programs and Policies in the United States In comparison with China, the United States is also witnessing an increasing trend of its populaces to remain under poverty. As per the U.S. Census Bureau, the current rate of population under poverty line in the year 2012 was projected to be 16%, which shows a 3% increase as compared to Chinese poverty figures (Lien, 2013). In order to determine and analyze the programs along with the policies relating to poverty in the US, it can be apparently observed that the government of the nation had enacted the ‘Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)’, which focused upon providing stable minimum wages to the employees engaged in commercial activities (Western New England University, 1997). Moreover, the country also witnesses of having nearly about 1.4 million youths between ages of 15 to 24, who does not possess any education or job and raising dependent children. In this context, the government along with the assistance of multiple social communities started the ‘Two-Generation Programs’, which was regarded as a short-term approach providing greater support to both parents and the dependent children. This eventually contributed towards poverty eradication (Pierre & et al., 1995). It is worth mentioning that increasing areas of concentrated poverty also became a major issue for the US government and thus, the Housing program was introduced with the intention of shifting the poverty-stricken populaces to low-poverty neighborhoods (McClurea, 2008). Apart from all these programs and policies, the US government also focused upon providing assistance to the least- income populaces through enacting short-term, intermediate and long-term planning. For instance, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) program mostly focuses on the intermediary development of the low-income individuals, resulting in eradicating poverty by a considerable extent (Sawhill & Karpilow, 2013). Contrast and Evaluation As per the above analysis, the poverty related programs along with policies can be contrasted between China and the US. The above discussed facts suggest that China in the context of poverty eradication program focused much upon long-term approach. Records project that till date, China has successfully uplifted above 600 million poverty-stricken people from the dreadful condition of poverty. Its long-term approach in deeply identifying the root causes of poverty and formulating effective strategies have helped in eradicating the critical concern of poverty. Specially mentioning, China has focused majorly towards developing its rural areas and gathering of a huge force of skilled labors that further contributes towards the development of its various other areas (The World Bank Group, 2014; Hannum & et al., 2012). Apart from these, China has also showed massive improvement in the areas of agricultural development and production, which eventually became an inspiration for other nations to follow its strategies. The fiscal policies enacted by the Chinese government have significantly helped in maintaining a steady economic growth and appreciable GDP rates. In addition, the efficient budget management strategies of the government also helped in smooth flow of various poverty eradication based programs. In contrast to the US, plans and strategies towards eradication of poverty are often identified to be short-term in nature that might not be effective as China. As earlier mentioned, the poverty rates in the US remain in constant fluctuation stage, which makes quite difficult for the nation to eradicate this concern completely from the nation. It has been apparently viewed in this similar regard that the US US tended majorly towards reducing poverty through improving the wages and the living standards of the working populaces with lower income rates. Moreover, the subsidized housing program of the US government seems to be quite appropriate in reducing the poverty rates from the nation (Williamson & et al., 2014). In addition to this, the US government has paid utmost attention upon the factor of tax regulation through formulating effective fiscal policies and funds circulation for sustainable growth and maintaining price stability (McClurea, 2008). These initiatives of the US government can be regarded as short-term approaches and might prove ineffective towards eradicating poverty as compared to China. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be affirmed that the prevalence of poverty-stricken population in any nation impose unfavorable impact upon its economic development by a considerable extent. In this similar concern, the above discussed two countries i.e. China and the US have implemented their respective programs along with policies relating to the eradication of poverty. It can be apparently observed that the poverty related programs along with policies of China are long-term focused as compared to the US that are short-term, which might prove much effective in solving the critical concern of poverty. Thus, it can be concluded that the poverty based programs as well as the policies of China might adopt by other nations who face the similar concern of having poverty-stricken populaces. It would be vital to mention that the policies as well as the programs relating to poverty that follow by China will certainly aid in developing various fields apart from poverty that include financial conditions and technological progress among others. References Hannum, E., Liu, J., & Frongillo, E. A. (2012). International journal of educational development. Poverty, Food Insecurity and Nutritional Deprivation in Rural China: Implications for Children’s Literacy Achievement, 91-93. Lein, L. (2013). Poverty and welfare. Marginalisation and destitution in the aftermath of the United States recession, (93), 17-19. McClurea, K. (2008). Deconcentrating poverty with housing programs. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01944360701730165#.UwspNeOSw0p Pierre, R. G. St., Layzer, J. I., & Barnes, H. V. (1995). Two-Generation Programs: Design, Cost, and Short-Term Effectiveness. Two-Generation Programs, 5 (3), 76-79. Sawhill, I., & Karpilow, Q. (2013). Strategies for assisting low-income families. Introduction, 1-3. Shih, T. H. (2013). Chinas formula to reduce poverty could help developing nations. Retrieved from http http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1202142/chinas-formula-reduce-poverty-could-help-developing-nations The Economic Times. (2013). China reduces poverty level by 71% in three decades. Retrieved from http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-09-13/news/42041969_1_china-human-rights-poverty-line The World Bank Group. (2014). Results profile: China poverty reduction. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2010/03/19/results-profile-china-poverty-reduction Wang, J. (2007). The politics of poverty mis-targeting in China. Journal of Chinese Political Science, 12 (3), 1-2. Western New England University. (1997). Notes. The Fair Labor Standards Act-Anti-Poverty Leg-Islation in the Modern Era: Advocating Judicial Scrutiny under a Feminist Policy-Centered Analysis, 19, 230-233. Williamson, A. R., Smith, M. T., & Strambi-Kramer, M. (2014). Housing choice vouchers, the low-income housing tax credit, and the federal poverty deconcentration goal. Urban Affairs Review, 121-124. Read More