Despite prolonged economic growth, poverty has become a more notable and noted feature of Chinese society. The paper examines three phases of development since the foundation of the People’s Republic: the central planning era (1949 –1978); the pro-urban growth model (1978 – 1999); and more...

This paper studies the sources of social inequalities largely neglected by the previous researches on urban China’s socio-economic reforms. The research focuses on the policy guided differential treatments to the employees of non-enterprises and the employees of enterprises in the reforms of...

This paper fills some of the gaps regarding housing choice, demand, and quality among China’s rural-to-urban migrants using data from a purpose-designed survey of 800 low-status migrants in Tianjin. Results show that many migrants do not to exercise housing ‘choice’ but, rather, undergo...

Policies addressing the influx of rural migrants into Chinese urban areas have evolved over time from active opposition, through suspicious ambivalence, to wary tolerance, and now seem to have entered a new phase in which productive engagement is being attempted. Unfortunately, little...

The construction industry is important for Chinese rural to urban migrants. Over 90% of urban construction workers are rural migrants, and over a third of all rural migrants work in construction. The construction industry is not only particularly important, but is also different from other...

This paper demonstrates that urban social exclusion in China does not only include restricted participation by the ¿underclass¿ in urban life, but also the deprivation of certain political, social and economic rights. In addition, the paper describes how the character of urban social exclusion...

Mega-events such as the Olympic Games tend to be accompanied by copious media coverage of the negative social impacts of these events, and people in the affected areas are often thought to share similar experiences. The research in this paper, which focused on the Beijing Summer Olympic Games of...

Recent government pronouncements in the UK and above all the recent Conservative Party (2008) policy document on welfare reform suggest that US welfare reform is increasingly being taken as a model for the UK. What lessons should the UK draw from US experience? The long established means tested...

Children’s lives have been transformed over the past century. Family incomes have increased, children lead more solitary lives, attitudes to childhood have changed, new products have been developed and commercial pressures on children have increased. The importance of these commercial...