Urban new poor and welfare triangle: An analysis of social exclusion

The research is an exploratory and descriptive study of how the urban new poor in Tianjin in China are socially excluded. It has three objectives. First, it accounts for the relationships between the three institutions of the welfare triangle and the social exclusion of the new urban poor against the background of economic transformation in China. Second, it employs an institutional perspective to look at why the urban new poor are socially excluded. Third, it suggests social policies for tackling social exclusion in China.;Based on social exclusion theory developed by Gordon et al. (2000) and the concept of the welfare triangle of Evers (1988, 1993), this research looks at the relationships of the following four variables---the independent variables of labour market and social welfare institutions, the moderate variable of family institution and the dependent variable of social exclusion. A dominant-less design triangulation method is used. The research used depth interviews, questionnaire survey and secondary data for analyses. The depth interviews and questionnaire survey were conducted in the Qiufengli community in Tianjin, China.;The research has the following major findings. Economic institutional transformation was the contextual factor to the social exclusion of the new poor. The social exclusion of the new poor was a result of the interactive processes of the three institutions of the welfare triangle---labour market, social welfare and family. The former two of the welfare triangle were the primary reasons of the social exclusion of the new poor; they resulted in their absence from the labour market and the deprivation of inadequate family income, while mutual help of the family also failed to provide sufficient income protection, at same time, the caring responsibilities exacerbated their hardship. It was also found that the welfare institution was itself a subject of transformation and it could not effectively provide the necessary income protection and support services for the new poor. In sum, the new urban poor were socially excluded in three dimensions: the lack of or inadequate participation in the labour market, inadequate social welfare provisions and inadequate participation from social relationship.;The research identifies the same three dimensions in accounting for the social exclusion of the new poor, as Gordon et al. (2000) did in their study; but it has somewhat different content in each dimension. On the basis of this finding, it suggests the concept of institutional exclusion. It enables a better understanding of how the new urban poor are socially excluded in the context of a transitional economy in the case of China. Social welfare institution is supposed to enhance people's well-being, but in the case of the new urban poor in China, it was a source of their problems. Social welfare institution could not provide the function of social protection to the new urban poor in a transitional economy in the case of China. In this light, the finding of this research enriches the theory of institutional transition of state-socialist society developed by Nee (1989) and Szelenyi and Kostello (1996), from a single-institutional perspective to a multiple-institutional perspective in a transitional society. At last, social policies for tackling social exclusion are recommended.