A Study On The Measurement Of Relative Poverty Of Rural Households In China

The report of the 20 th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that it is necessary to consolidate and expand the achievements of poverty alleviation and enhance the endogenous development momentum of poverty-stricken areas and people.In 2023,the No.1 Central Document once again emphasized that the most arduous and arduous task of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way is still in the countryside,and we must firmly adhere to the bottom line of preventing large-scale poverty return.From poverty alleviation to a new stage of rural revitalization,the poverty standard of rural households also needs to be changed from absolute to relative.After the elimination of absolute poverty in 2020,the main contradiction of low-income groups has changed from the survival problem of maintaining livelihood to the development problem of insufficient capacity.How to scientifically formulate relative poverty standards at present and in the future,and then accurately identify relative poverty groups,will be the primary proposition to be answered by China’s poverty alleviation theory and practice in the ’post-poverty alleviation era’.Firstly,this paper makes a comprehensive literature review and research on the related concepts,domestic and foreign identification standards and measurement methods of relative poverty.On this basis,using CFPS2018 data,this paper measures the relative poverty in rural China from the perspective of income and multidimensional perspective.From the perspective of income,the income ratio method widely used by the EU and OECD countries in formulating relative poverty standards is used to discuss the selection of specific income ratios and whether they should be set up in urban and rural areas.The appropriate income relative poverty line is selected.On this basis,the FGT index is used to measure and compare the income relative poverty incidence,income relative poverty depth index and intensity index of rural eastern,central and western regions and families with different characteristics.Secondly,from the multidimensional perspective,the multidimensional relative poverty index(MRPI)of rural areas in China is constructed on the framework of Alkire-Foster double critical value method.A total of 11 indicators in five dimensions of education,health,living standards,employment and social security are set up,and the CRITIC weight method is used for weighting.On this basis,the multidimensional relative poverty of rural families in the eastern,central and western regions is measured and compared,and the multidimensional relative poverty families in each region are classified,and the measurement results of relative poverty from the two perspectives are compared and analyzed.Based on the measurement results from the income perspective,the main conclusions are as follows:(1)Urban and rural areas use 40%of the median per capita income to set the income relative poverty line,which is a more appropriate choice in the early stage of relative poverty governance.(2)The relative poverty rate of income,the relative poverty depth and intensity index of income in the eastern,central and western regions of China are all in the state of "high in the west and low in the east."(3)The income relative poverty is more serious when the family size is 1 and 7 or more,the gender of the head of household is female,the age of the head of household is over 60 years old,and the highest education level of family members is illiterate.Based on the measurement results of multidimensional perspective,the main conclusions are as follows:(1)Life fuel,health level and durable consumer goods are the three main factors leading to multidimensional relative poverty of rural households in China.(2)The calculation results of the CRITIC method and the equal weight method in the dimension are very different.The equal weight method in the dimension should be used carefully in the study of multidimensional relative poverty index.(3)The development level of rural areas in the eastern,central and western regions of China is not balanced.The western rural areas need to improve the overall level of basic public services,and the eastern rural areas need to pay more attention to the improvement of social security and the support of severe multidimensional relatively poor families,and pay attention to the balance within the region.(4)If only the income standard is used,a large number of multidimensional relatively poor families will be ignored.In the future,China’s rural areas should consider the combination of income and multidimensional standards.