Make Efforts to Develop an Olive-shaped Distribution Pattern—an Analysis Based on Data from the Chinese Social Survey for 2006-2013
Social Sciences in
No.1, 2015
Research Report
Make Efforts to Develop an Olive-shaped Distribution Pattern—an Analysis Based on Data from the Chinese Social Survey for 2006-2013
(Abstract)
Li Peilin and Zhu Di
Increasing the proportion of the middle income group is the key to shrinking the income gap and developing an olive-shaped distribution structure in China. Data from the Chinese Social Survey for 2006-2013 shows that the proportion of the middle income group oscillates between 27 % and 28 %. It is estimated that by 2020, we will have achieved an olive-shaped distribution structure (larger in the middle and smaller at each end) if the average income of the lower and lower middle groups can be tripled and that of the middle and high income groups can be doubled. To achieve this aim, we need to ensure that residents’ incomes rise faster than GDP, continue large-scale poverty reduction, endeavour to improve the employment situation for college graduates and the new generation of migrant workers, improve the social security system, and alleviate the pressure on the lower-middle income group.