Social protection for new urban poor in China: a paradigm shift in achieving social inclusion?

Abstract

The deepening of the market-oriented reforms in the 1990s has adversely affected a balance between economic development and social equality in China. It demonstrates the inadequacy of the ‘old’ social protection schemes to cope with the new political economic environment. There is a mounting concern over how to achieve a fair and competitive society, so as to maintain the social cohesion in transitional China. This paper aims to discuss changes in welfare provisions in different paradigmatic phases of policy development in China, including the so-called “catching up development,” “economic growth (GDPism) development” and “people-centered development.” Building our theoretical framework on existing literature on poverty and social exclusion, this paper examines how the economic restructuring, the evolution of household registration system (the hukou system) and the transformation of welfare provisions are accompanied by new urban poverty in China. The discussion will focus on two specific policy areas, namely the Minimum Living Security System (Dibao) and healthcare insurance. We assess the extent to which these social protection measures achieve social inclusion in urban China.