Summary-
Hong Kong, China: The Chinese government has come
up with a plan. Also the National Development and Reform Commission and other
agencies came up with a plan. The plan is to narrow the gap between rich and
poor. There has been a lot of corruption of wealth going on in China’s
government system. Income inequality has been occurring between poor and rich. The
proposal of business owners and banks wanting a raise on their income has not
been establish. Public concerns are looking at poor-villagers and the better
life style people have in urban areas. Basically urban workers earn a higher
income than those in rural areas, and this unequal income distribution has been
invisible and unlawful. The plan puts
major emphasis that this issue needs urgent solving. Wen Jiabao the prime minster
promised to fix this issue of income inequality distribution between rural and
urban workers as his departure from office this year in March. Because of
Jiabao departure it is up to the new leader Xi Jinping to follow through with
the plan. Xi Jinping agrees that income
distribution has been unfair. Therefore, his plan is to expand state spending
on health care, education, and social welfare. Xi Jinping said, “that the
partly must defuse widespread public dissatisfaction with poor public services
and, above all, corruption.” Moreover, specific new initiative to reduce
corruption of income is not a part of the income plan. The new plan for 2015 is
that business owners have to pay five percent points and additional payments
are to be used for social welfare.
Critique-Income inequality in urban
and rural China has a big impact on family’s lives. “Cities are the fundamental
blocks of prosperity,” claims Marc Weiss of the Prague Institute for Global
Urban Development, who also notes that the industrial and commercial activities
of cities is account for between 50 and 80 percent of the gross domestic
product (GDP) of most cities” (241). This is obvious in China because urban and
rural citizens are treated unequally by the government because the government
concern is the growth in economy (GDP) for China. Urban families experience a
better lifestyle such as: old-age security, access to resources, social
services, children do not bring extra income, in the household there are
multiple wage earners, three generation of grandparents family ideal solution
of childcare and working out house work problems, migrant maids who are unregistered care for urban family grandparents who are sick, availability in
better housing conditions, and education is paid for. In rural families better
life is the responsibility of the family. For example, a lot of migrant workers
come to the urban area in search for better work and education. The central
government tried their best to put a stop to the migration of countryside
workers coming to the city. When most family member migrates they work in service
sector jobs such as: restaurant, tailoring, or repair shops. These rural
families are peasant families living in the city. However, they still live a
poor life in the city as they lack the resources they need. For example, some
live under bridges, in abandoned buildings, and in bus depots. They also have
issues with power, jobs and sanitation. Roopnarine and Girlen gave a good
insight of the status of man and women in the family. “Many of the rights and
privileges, such as maternal leave and equal salary for men and women for the same
job, are provided to women for the same job, are providing to women only in the
city. In rural areas, because of their
physical disadvantages in farming, which still relies on manual labor and
primitive techniques, a large proportion of women (over 60 percent) reported
that they had to depend on their husband financially” (54). Therefore, urban
China is a place where the government sees as prosperous and growth. Using my
sociological imagination the real prosperous growth comes from both, but mainly
from rural areas that have helped fuel growth. Also, using my sociological
imagination going beyond the communist view of collectivism is that their idea
or theory of collectivism did not work as well, because now there is a social
problem of income inequality. The social
problem is now being look at from a societal standpoint because income
inequality may seriously threaten the continuation of China society as we know
it. From a moral standpoint a large
number of rural citizens are being seriously harmed as they live in deprived conditions.
China’s government view fits well with
the central place theory because Chines government suggests that the urban area
is the central place where key functions converge. Also, urban China is where industrial
and commercial activities occur and it is important for the GDP growth and a prosperous
nation. I wonder what services will be offered by the new leader to the rural
area citizens? I wonder how much rural income workers will increase to? I wonder if a social problem will occur if business
and bank owners do/ do not get a raise? I wonder if the new leader is going to offer
specific new initiatives to reduce corruption?
Maribel Rivera, February 8, 2013,11:11 AM
Roopnarine, Jaipaul L. & Gielen, Uwe P. (2005). Families in global perspective. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Page 54
I have abided by the UNCG academic integrity code Maribel
Rivera.
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