Social Sciences in China, 2022

Vol. 43, No. 3, 2022

The Path to Common Prosperity: Rising Social Construction and Livelihood Expenditure

Jiao Changquan and Dong Leiming

Abstract：Since 2000, China has undergone a “golden age” of livelihood security construction similar to that of the Western industrialized countries in the 1960s to 1980s. Nowadays, China has built up the world’s largest social security and housing support systems; the coverage of compulsory education has reached the average level of high-income countries; and the main health indicators are generally better than the average of middle- and high-income countries. Obviously, China is no longer a “low-welfare” country. Livelihood expenditure, with a share of GDP close to the level of developed countries around 1980, has become the principal part of public expenditure, and the central government is also playing an increasingly prominent role in ensuring people’s livelihoods. China is building a new livelihood security system with responsibility shared among multiple levels of government.

Keywords: social construction, livelihood expenditure, great transformation, central-local relations