Comparing the Extent and Levels of Child Poverty by the Income and Multidimensional Deprivation Approach in China

Based on the newly published China Family Panel Studies Survey dataset in 2014, this paper estimated and compared the child poverty situations in China by the unidimensional income poverty approach and the multidimensional poverty approach. The Minimum Living Security Standard (MLSS) poverty line produced by the provincial government separately in the urban and rural areas was used to estimate child poverty rate by the income approach. While under the multidimensional deprivation approach, five dimensions with in total twenty deprivation indicators that could reflect the actual living standards were selected to measure the extent of multidimensional poverty among Chinese children. These five dimensions include the dimension of child health, child nutritional status, the dimension of education, child care and protection as well as children’s access to basic facilities at the household level that are vital for children’s survival and development. The results show, there is almost no significant difference in the child income poverty rate between rural and urban areas, whereas the multidimensional poverty rate of rural and urban children has significant disparities as measured using the multidimensional deprivation approach, no matter their performance in the single deprivation indicator or the aggregated deprivation index. The estimated results at the provincial level also indicate that the income approach could not accurately measure the extent and levels of child poverty. The results using the multidimensional poverty measures show that the disparities among children in China existed in a variety of areas including nutritional status, the early educational levels, the extent of care and protection from parents and caregivers, the social protection levels and the deprivation in access to basic facilities at the household level. This indicates that, there’re multiple vulnerabilities and disadvantages faced by poor children in China beyond the household income, which will severely affected children’s development of capabilities. To achieve the goal of minimizing the gaps between poor and non-poor children and helping poor children out of poverty, the government should consider measuring child poverty using the multidimensional deprivation approach and regularly monitoring the extent and levels of child poverty as well as the progress in child poverty reduction. In addition, a comprehensive strategy of social assistance and security should be implemented to help address multiple disadvantages faced by the poor children.