Friday, December 02, 2011
(photo: Greg Baker, AP)
To hear some in the media speak about it, you’d think that China was a nation of rich and middle-class people with enough money to load up on new consumer goods. In fact, most of China isn’t like that at all.
On Tuesday, the Chinese government announced that it was raising the amount that Chinese could earn and still qualify for poverty assistance. The new figure is $1 a day. Previously only those making less than 55 cents a day were considered poor.
The move will result in the number of poor Chinese eligible for state benefits increasing fourfold, from 28 million to 128 million.
-David Wallechinsky
China Raises Poverty Line, Increasing Number of Official Poor by 100 Million (Associated Press)
China Raises Poverty Line to Benefit at Least 100m (China Daily)
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