China Helps Poor Urban ResidentsThe emergence of poor urban groups has attracted the attention of the government and measures are being taken to help the poor.The Urban Survey Organization under the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a report today that poverty in urban areas has become a problem that cannot be ignored. According to the results of a nationwide survey that NBS conducted among 760,000 urban households recently, six percent of these households are below the poverty line receiving an average income of 100 yuan per month. The ratio is much higher in areas in the western part of the country, about ten times more than in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. People aged between 40-45 are among the lowest income group in cities. These people have a relatively lower level of education and are more dependent on family members. NBS said that the government has prioritized helping poor urban residents. It has already established a system for ensuring a minimum standard of living in almost all cities at and above the county level by setting the line of minimum standard of living and minimum wage. By the end of last year, more than five million urban residents had received relief from the government. The government is planning to establish a complete social insurance system within the next five years. Up to mid 1999, 110 million workers in urban areas bought pension insurance and 137 million people bought unemployment insurance. In addition to measures to insure a minimum level of subsistence for poor people in cities, the government has also used taxation as a leverage to narrow the gap of incomes between different social urban residents. The government imposed tax on interest of bank savings of residents in last November. It plans to use the tax revenue, estimated at 20 billion yuan this year, to fund compensations for low-income urban residents. The Chinese government is also planning to launch inheritance tax and social insurance tax in the near future. It is now looking into the possibility of imposing property tax. According to NBS statistics, the gap between the rich and the poor is widening in cities. Young households are earning 30 percent more than middle-aged households. People with university degrees are earning 85 percent more than those with primary school education. Male urban residents earn 30 percent more than female residents. |
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