IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i16p5896-d398876.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Policy Responses to the Covid-19 Crisis in China in 2020

Author

Listed:
  • Quan Lu

    (China Social Security Research Center, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China)

  • Zehao Cai

    (School of Public Administration, China University of Labor Relations, Beijing 100045, China)

  • Bin Chen

    (School of Sociology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, China)

  • Tao Liu

    (School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    Center of Social Welfare and Governance, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
    Institute of East Asian Studies, University Duisburg-Essen, 47057 Duisburg, Germany)

Abstract

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic has catapulted China into a serious social and political crisis. This article focuses upon how Chinese social policy has responded to the Covid-19 crisis. It reveals that the Chinese welfare state has woven a comprehensive social safety net to mitigate the social suffering of Chinese society in the mid- and post-crisis periods. Different types of social policy programs have been combined and synthesized, including social insurance, social assistance, and social welfare arrangements. Facing the challenges of the new risks caused by the pandemic, the collaboration of the Chinese state and intermediary social welfare organizations has played a crucial role in providing both cash benefits and social services (benefits in kind). For the first time, social policy in China has acted as a major player for coping with the negative outcomes of a pandemic. This article concludes that the pandemic-related crisis has justified an interventionist approach and logic, driven by the state’s welfare system, which favors a model of “big government”. However, this model also requires justification and legitimation.

Suggested Citation

  • Quan Lu & Zehao Cai & Bin Chen & Tao Liu, 2020. "Social Policy Responses to the Covid-19 Crisis in China in 2020," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-14, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:16:p:5896-:d:398876
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/16/5896/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/16/5896/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1991. "Crossing the Valley of Tears in East European Reform," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(5), pages 26-34, September.
    2. Martin Loosemore, 1999. "A grounded theory of construction crisis management," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(1), pages 9-19.
    3. Fang Cai & Yang Du, 2015. "The Social Protection System in Ageing China," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 10(2), pages 250-270, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gao, Mingyun & Yang, Honglin & Xiao, Qinzi & Goh, Mark, 2022. "COVID-19 lockdowns and air quality: Evidence from grey spatiotemporal forecasts," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    2. Xu, Jia & Bahmani-Oskooee, Mohsen & Karamelikli, Huseyin, 2022. "China’s trade in services and role of the exchange rate: An asymmetric analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 747-757.
    3. Tao Lian & Shamsheer ul Haq & Pomi Shahbaz & Lei Zhao & Muhammad Nadeem & Babar Aziz, 2022. "Changing Food Patterns during the Pandemic: Exploring the Role of Household Dynamics and Income Stabilization Strategies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-20, December.
    4. Alex Jingwei He & Chunni Zhang & Jiwei Qian, 2022. "COVID-19 and social inequality in China: the local–migrant divide and the limits of social protections in a pandemic [Impact of risk perception on migrant workers’ employment choice during the COVI," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(2), pages 275-290.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bojana Suzić & Miroslav Karlíček & Václav Stříteský, 2016. "Adoption of Social Media for Public Relations by Museums," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2016(2), pages 5-16.
    2. Takatoshi Ito & Kazumasa Iwata & Colin McKenzie & Shujiro Urata, 2015. "Social Security in Ageing Asia: Editors' Overview," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 10(2), pages 179-198, July.
    3. Lin, Hsin-Chen & Swarna, Hepsi & Bruning, Patrick F., 2017. "Taking a global view on brand post popularity: Six social media brand post practices for global markets," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 621-633.
    4. Bossink, B.A.G., 2002. "The development of co-innovation strategies: stages and interaction patterns in interfirm innovation," Serie Research Memoranda 0020, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    5. Jiri Vecernik, 2004. "Czech Social Reform/Non-reform: Routes, Actors and Problems," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 2004-651, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    6. Samuel Owusu & Samuel Tawiah Baidoo, 2021. "Providing a safety net for the vulnerable persons in Ghana: Does the extended family matter?," International Journal of Social Welfare, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 208-215, April.
    7. Olivier LECLERCQ, 1996. "Les Entreprises Publiques Dans Le Processus De Transition En Europe Del' Est," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 235-266, June.
    8. Joshua Aizenman & Peter Isard, 1993. "Resource Allocation During the Transition to a Market Economy: Political Implications of Supply Bottlenecks and Adjustment Costs," NBER Working Papers 4366, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Yiping Huang, 2015. "Comment on “The Social Protection System in Ageing China”," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 10(2), pages 271-272, July.
    10. Colombatto Enrico, 1992. "The Integration Of The East And The Options For The West," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2-3), pages 273-288, June.
    11. Agnieszka Czajkowska & Manuela Ingaldi, 2021. "Structural Failures Risk Analysis as a Tool Supporting Corporate Responsibility," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-20, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:16:p:5896-:d:398876. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.