Getting to Know Your International Contacts

Since I haven't received any response from my International Contacts yet, I chose the alternative to go to the website of the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre's page and read about childhood poverty in one specific country.  I chose China, and was very surprised to find out the recent changes and declines in the overall poverty rates.


China:  I gained many insights in regards to poverty in China, especially the recent changes among the western and eastern parts of the country.  

• Much of this decline in poverty is due to far-reaching processes of economic and social transition  However, economic growth has been slower in Western China, leading to higher poverty rates. For example, in 1988, a person in the West was 3 times as likely as their Eastern counterpart to be poor; by 1998, they were 6 times more likely to be poor.⁵ This figure shows the enormous rise in inequality in China in recent years - from one of the most equal societies in the world to one of the most unequal.⁶ Furthermore, the national poverty line is low by international standards, meaning that many more people live close to poverty.
    

There has definitely been a decline in poverty rates since 2000, which is definitely due to economic and social transition.

•  China's transition from a centrally planned to a globalised market economy has helped reduce chronic poverty and disadvantage, but also created new forms of vulnerability and poverty. Eastern China, in particular, has clearly benefited from controlled liberalisation, and carefully used foreign investment - China receives more foreign investment than any other country in the world except for the US.⁷  At the same time, throughout the country, adapting to the market and preparing for joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001, has had enormous implications for employment and wellbeing. 

There has also been an significant decline in Childhood poverty in recent years.

• 4.2 million Chinese children live in absolute poverty and 8.7 million live in disadvantaged conditions.⁹  Both the absolute numbers and proportion of children living in poverty have declined over the 1990s. Education and health levels in China are higher than in many countries with equivalent incomes  - life expectancy at birth is 71 years, and 85 per cent of the population aged over 15 are literate. However, improvements in these areas have slowed down over the 1990s and there are major regional differences. For example, in 1999 the national child mortality rate was 32 per thousand but 47.9 in the West.¹⁰  While 80 per cent of Western Chinese children complete primary school, this is 9 per cent fewer than the national average and 15 per cent fewer than in Eastern China.
  
  Summary:
  
  In recent years in China there has been a definite decline in poverty rates, including childhood poverty.  But what I discovered was that even though there has been a definite decline overall in regards to poverty rates, there still is many differences among the Eastern and Western parts of China.  So while the Eastern parts of the country has benefited from foreign investments, Western China's poverty rates have grown significantly.  As far as childhood poverty rates, overall since the 1990's poverty among the very populated country have greatly declined for the children.
  
  
  References:  Retrieved from:
  
  http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/