A study of household income inequality in China: perspective of educational homogeneity marriage

Based on the data from the 2006 to 2017 Chinese Social Survey (C.S.S.), we measured the extent of inequality between the total household income and the average household income in China. We conclude that the Gini coefficient of total household income fluctuates between 0.47 and 0.52. The Gini coefficient of household per capita income fluctuates between 0.5 and 0.54, indicating a significant degree of household income inequality in China. We use the kernel density method to obtain the distribution of household income and find that the overall income level of society has increased. Still, the degree of household income inequality has been growing. From the perspective of educational homogeneity marriage, we use the income distribution table to analyse the internal structure of the total household income and draw the following conclusions. High-income households account for most of the whole social gain, and an increase in household income disparities has accompanied the increase in the household size. In addition, the distribution of total household income in China differs significantly in the household head's educational attainment. A relatively small number of households with a high degree of educational attainment account for a relatively large share of income, and households with a combination of high–high and high–low educational attainment have gradually increased. The proportion of social income has continued to rise.