Essay on Reasons Behind China’s Enlarging Rural-Urban Divide

Gary Becker’s and Kevin Murphy’s “The Upside of Income Inequality” analyzes the correlation between overall economic development, the importance of education and the effects it has on increasing income inequality. Becker’s and Murphy’s article presents a study taken in China that shows the increase in income inequality raising at similar rates as economic growth. This ultimately leads to a decrease in the amount of people facing poverty and better living conditions for the poor. During China’s rapid rate of economic development “inequality rose, [but] the number of Chinese who live in poverty fell from 260 million in 1978 to 42 million in 1998. Despite the widening gap in incomes, rapid economic development dramatically improved the lives of China’s poor” (Becker and Murphy 581). The authors also state that income inequality is in fact a natural result of economic development because it “raised the standard of living for both the rich and the poor” (Becker and Murphy 582). Education also effects the average earnings of Americans. The importance of receiving an education has

As Joseph E Stiglitz who won the Nobel economic prize said, ‘Two forces will shape the 21st century: urbanisation in China and technological innovation in the US.’ Urbanization is such an important issue for China and the world. Research figures indicate the urbanization rate has grown to 45% from 13% since 1949 and the government estimates it will increase to 60% in 2030. Some researchers have shown urbanization in China was very successful and got many great accomplishments. On the other side, many other researchers also revealed critical opinions to what it has done in the past. They also worried about the future of urbanization in China. Through this report, This report will examine what benefits and disadvantages did urbanization process bring to China and How is the future of it.

Many of the individuals who live within these communities are elderly, immigrants, farmers and migrants. They work and live off their land and lack the needed funds to purchase health insurance, because it is not affordable and they do not have transportation or a way of getting on bus routes, because they live so far out. The nearest local hospital is about 50 miles away and if they get seriously injured they must wait for an ambulance or life flight to arrive with an additional ride of about an hour before they receive adequate care in case of an emergency.

Gan, Li, et al. "Reducing Inequality: Taking From The Top To Distribute At The Bottom." China Perspectives 2013.3 (2013): 80-82. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Oct. 2015. Gan et al. examine the true scope and detail of the income disparity present in contemporary Chinese society. This work examines the introduction of government measures, the criticisms and inadequacies of these supposed measures, other potential solutions that have been proposed, as well as whether or not the Chinese government has the true ability and willingness to carry out the new

In the United States for decades the cost of health care has been on the rise and will continue to rise. Healthcare is a major concern for every country in the world. Access to healthcare service is critical for rural residents. Most importantly, residents should be able to have convenient access to medical care such as primary care, dental, behavioral health, emergency, and public health service. According to Health People 2020, access to healthcare is important for overall physical, social, and mental health status, prevention of disease, detection and treatment of illnesses, quality of life, preventable death, and life expectancy. Rural residents often experience obstacles to healthcare that limit their ability to receive the care they need. In order for rural residents to have sufficient healthcare access, necessary and appropriate services must be available.

People living in rural areas are experiencing highly limited excess to health care facilities either because they are not aware of the disease symptoms as a

Significant health disparities between rural and urban populations have been a major concern in the United States. One prominent factor contributing to the disparities is lack of access to quality care in rural areas which is closely associated with challenges faced by rural health care providers (National Rural Health Association, 2007). Rural hospitals are the key health care provider in rural areas, offering essential health care services to nearly 54 million people (American Hospital Association, 2006). They face a series of challenges such as workforce shortages, rise in health care costs, difficulty in finding access to capital, difficulty in

The morbidity and mortality rates are higher in the rural areas than in the urban areas partly due to the high rates of chronic illness and poor health behaviors. The health care disparities of the rural population have led to negative bias. The bias within the health care field have affected clinical judgment and decision making (Blair, Steiner, & Havranek, 2011). Bias further lead and exponentiate health disparities, continuing the trends and challenges among the rural population. Economic status is another negative impact of health care disparities among the rural population. Their low economic status continues to effect the availability of resources to improve the health care infrastructure and specialization. Health reform is needed to improve the effects of the health care disparities and their negative impacts on the rural

The connection between poverty and education has been discusses for many years, and the government has poured billions of dollars into providing as well as improving education for both the upper, and the lower class. According to The Institute of Education Sciences, “In 2012, approximately 11.1 million school-aged children, or children ages 5 to 17 years old, were in families living in poverty.” With the amount of money flow coming into the Unites States, why are impoverished school aged children still not receiving education benefits and opportunities? This has not been an issue until the last century when the push for education became prevalent. Currently Shanghai, China is leading the marathon to education among other countries. The United

According to a 2017 article called “Health Care Access in Rural Communities,” people without medical insurance have a harder time getting access to doctors than those who are insured. Also, for people living in rural areas who are uninsured, a trip to the doctor costs too much, compared to those insured.

Demographic China has been unsuccessful in reducing the gap in healthcare disparities between urban and rural areas due to changes in health insurance and delivery. These changes have made access to medical care more difficult for the poor, uninsured, and underinsured. Rural areas in China are the most vulnerable because of a lack of true insurance plans and the accompanying comprehensive coverage. Approximately 800 million individuals live in rural areas, but eighty percent of the medical institutions are located in cities. Furthermore, high-quality medical resources tend to be mostly available in large-capacity hospitals.

Rural Americans face an exclusive combination of issues that create disparities in health care that are not found in urban areas. Many complications met by healthcare providers and patients in rural arears are massively different than those located in urban areas. Financial factors, cultural and social variances, educational deficiencies, lack of acknowledgement by delegates and the absolute isolation of living in remote rural areas all combined to hinder rural Americans in their struggle to lead a normal, healthy life. Rural hospitals located in rural areas faces many disadvantages, such as; minimum resources, shortcoming or unprepared professionals, and financial disparities. Although many of these challenges could be solved

Their social structure is built on a caste system or social stratification where people are categorized based on their socioeconomic status. There is an upper, middle, and lower class which are all subdivided into stratum. Gender also plays a part in social order and role expectations. The caste system can even go as far as interfering with the healthcare system. Those of lower socioeconomic status and/or women have the most difficulty getting their health needs met. India still has an ongoing issue of healthcare inequality. The National Center for Biotechnology Information says, “…there are marked variations in general hospitalization rates by gender, wealth, and urban-rural residence. Some of this variation may be due to differences in actual and perceived need and health seeking behavior; indeed, there is evidence of gender inequalities in untreated morbidity with the likely underreporting of illness among women.” There is low government spending, lack of insurance, and most bills are paid out-of-pocket. India has top quality healthcare facilities located in the cities, but with lack of transportation, people living in rural areas are unable to gain access.

Most importantly, the reestablishment of the hukou system in the early sixties, preceding the failure of Mao’s Great Leap Forward plan, affected factories in China heavily. By law, every worker in the city needed a hukou, an urban residence permit, in order to be allowed to work. This created a huge conflict between China’s urban and rural citizens as it was made extremely difficult for people from rural areas to get hukous, which of course everyone wanted (Naughton, pg. 118). Because of this, the urban and rural areas started to develop in very different ways since city folk had primary access to food, even during the nationwide famine. However, even with the societal uproar, the Chinese government did not make

In order to get good health care you have to pay a very high price. Healthcare for the poor is limited. Most health services are located in the most developed cities and not easily accessible for rural populations.