Social policy and well-being

Chan, Chak Kwan; Ngok, King Lun; Phillips, David

doi:10.1332/policypress/9781861348807.003.0002

Cited by 9 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…Second, the Chinese government has invested heavily in the education sector in the past three decades, which has led to a rapid increase in the numbers and proportions of people with higher levels of educational qualifications (Chan, Ngok and Phillips 2008). This means that older people in future cohorts will be better educated than those examined in this paper.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Receipt of informal care in the Chinese older population

2016

Ageing and Society

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This paper examines the factors affecting the receipt of informal care among older people in China. It uses the second wave data of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS), which collected ageing and health-related information on a nationally representative sample of 8,906 older people aged 60 and over in 2013. Apart from the factors that have been examined in the contexts of developed countries, the paper further investigates two factors specific to Chinese society: rural-urban residence and regular financial assistance from children. Based on binary and multinomial logit regression analyses, the research findings are threefold: the determinants of receiving informal care differ remarkably according to the sources of care; disability and living arrangements are the most important determinants; rural-urban residence plays a vital role in the Chinese context, but regular financial assistance from children makes little difference. It is estimated that 53 million older people are receiving informal care each year, a figure equivalent to the entire population of England. With continuous population ageing, Chinese society will face huge pressure to meet the demand for social care among older people in the future. The Chinese government needs to build a well-rounded welfare system that tackles this challenge from multiple dimensions.The formal care services should aim to complement informal care in the short run and reduce inequality in social care in the long run.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Receipt of informal care in the Chinese older population

2016

Ageing and Society

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“…However, there were no well-organised and comprehensive policies for tackling the negative social consequences brought about by the economic reforms. From a social policy perspective, the market-oriented economic reforms restructured China's social policy framework and dismantled the state-led socialist welfare system (Chan et al ., 2008).…”

Section: The Political and Economic Context Of Developments In Socialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Policy Paradigm Shift and the Changing Role of the State: The Development of Social Policy in China since 2003

Ngok¹,

Huang²

2014

Social Policy & Society

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Since 2003 the rapid development of China's social policy has aroused much academic interest. This research places the development of social policy in China's political and economic context, focusing on the changing role of the state in making and implementing social policy. Based on the policy paradigm theory, this article builds up a framework to analyse the shift of social policy paradigms in post-Mao China, examining the changing role of the Chinese state in social welfare and social development. It argues that China's latest round of social policy expansion was driven by the social problems accumulated during the economic reforms, with change triggered by the SARS crisis, and its shape finally determined by the central political leadership led by Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao in a top-down manner.

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“…‘Small government, big society’ is often used to describe the preferred consequence of the constant reforms in government administration which have accompanied the fundamental economic changes in China. Both are functions of the Communist Party of China's (CPC) acceptance of neo-liberal prescriptions concerning the importance of the market and the need to reduce the role of the state in welfare (Chan et al ., 2008). Economic reform centred on the decentralisation of power to local units, such as state enterprises or rural collectives (Eleventh CPC Central Committee, 1978).…”

Section: ‘Small Government Big Society’mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As constructed in the Chinese context, the concept of ‘social welfare’ ( shehui fuli ) differs considerably from analogous provision in the western welfare states (Leung and Nann, 1995; Leung, 2005; Chan et al ., 2008). Despite considerable variation in coverage and levels, before the economic reform most of the urban population were provided with comprehensive welfare programs by the danwei system (Bian, 1994; Walder, 1986; Walker and Wong, 1996).…”

Section: The Socialisation Of Social Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

The Big Society in China: A Failed Experiment

Lei

Walker

2012

Social Policy & Society

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From 1988 the Chinese Government pursued a policy of ‘small government, big society’. The policy was determined at the highest level and, after a pilot study in Hainan Province, was implemented vigorously in a series of political reforms. It was the chief political dimension of the economic restructuring which led from state ownership of enterprises to the so-called socialist market. Like its economic counterpart, it reflected China's adoption of neo-liberal ideology. The aims were to encourage both civil society and the private market to provide social welfare and, thereby, to restrict demands on public expenditure. However, it failed to realise these goals and was recently replaced by a more state oriented approach. The article discusses the Chinese big society project and, specifically, examines why it was introduced, what it consisted of, its impact on social welfare, the criticisms it attracted and its recent changes in nature. The article concludes by considering some possible lessons for the UK Coalition Governments’ big society project and any similar initiatives attempted in other countries.

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Social policy and well-being

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Receipt of informal care in the Chinese older population

Receipt of informal care in the Chinese older population

Policy Paradigm Shift and the Changing Role of the State: The Development of Social Policy in China since 2003

The Big Society in China: A Failed Experiment

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