Population ageing and income inequality in rural China: an 18-year analysis

With the continuous increase of older adults, population ageing has become a public policy issue worldwide. Gaining insight into the current state of population ageing and its impact on income inequality is essential for designing effective and equitable policies that support economic development and social stability. This study, focusing on rural China, explores the relationship between population ageing and Gini coefficient of income, using nationally representative rural household data collected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China from 2003 to 2020. Results based on the decoupling index and decomposition method reveal that the issue of income inequality in the surveyed rural areas has not intensified with the progression of ageing, which overturns the predominant view in existing research that population ageing exacerbates income inequality. The findings indicate that the inhibitory effect of increasing transfer income on income inequality has become more pronounced as ageing deepens, and the income structural effect of rural residents in China has played a role in reducing the Gini coefficient. Based on these results, some suggestions are proposed such as raising parental allowance, improving rural production and living environment, constrcuting the long-term care system, and implementing multifaceted measures to enhance the income level of rural older adults.